Here is a randomly pieced together update:
Today I had a Relief Society presidency meeting, so Julie watched the girls for a couple hours this morning. I hope we can go to the pool this afternoon. I never have enough time to do everything I want to in a day! I also need to make dinner still. We are flooded with swiss chard, beets, and cucumbers. Although most of the cucumbers are extremely bitter!  David says he thinks it's due to cross pollination. I am trying to eliminate refined sugar from my diet for a full year. It has been 9 days so far. The first few were when I had the most cravings, but I still have them occasionally. I have not been 100% perfect, either, and have had a couple bites of sugary foods. I think I am feeling better, though. Summer is doing it with me, and David is trying but not as fully committed. I am also trying to work out for 7 minutes every day, too, using an app. It's supposed to have the same health benefits to work out at a high intensity level for 7 minutes as exercising moderately for an hour.

Today we planted our garden!  It was so fun. Amazingly, all three kids slept simultaneously for about 1 1/2 hours! David and I got to work in peace and quiet. We can't wait to have some amazing veggies growing in our yard!  We are still very new to gardening (our second year) so I am worried about our seeds not growing, etc. Scott contributed some of his amazing composted soil to our grow boxes. We put up a giant trellis for our sugar snap peas. We even got to squeeze in a walk to Rover park and some play time there after all the work was done. It was a fabulous Saturday. To top it all off, when we got home, there was a notice that CeCe's Garden's had tried to deliver some flowers to me. David  totally surprised me with some gorgeous Mother's Day flowers.

Calise is getting so good at repeating any small words she can possibly manage. She babels and "sings" a lot too. She is much cuddlier than McKindrey tends to be, so I love picking her up and feeling her wrap her arms tight around my neck, or lay her head against  my chest.

For dinner we had soup, and it was making a mess, so David suggested bibs. I went to put one on Calise and of course, she immediately began trying to rip it off. Luckily, she likes to do practically everything McKindrey does, so I put one on McKindrey and said, "Look, Calise, McKindrey is wearing a bib, too!" McKindrey, bless her, chimed in "Yes, Calise, look, I am wearing a bib, too!  Big girls wear bibs!" In that moment, despite the many times I have had doubts int he past, I knew she is meant to be a great leader in our family, and will continue to grow into an amazing big sister.

Wakely is incredibly handsome and cute, especially when he smiles and coos, which he does quite a bit of! He is SO good natured. I just adore that little guy SO MUCH!!! Gaaaah! I love it when i get to just sit and play with him on my lap, I can't help but beam down at him the whole time.

David has really gone the extra mile recently with my birthday and Mother's Day. I hope I can make his upcoming birthday something special... even though he already "bought" his present (his new road bike).

I wanted to get down some of the cute, funny things our little McKindrey and Calise have said and done recently. A couple days ago McKindrey was playing with her baby doll and sat down with her in the recliner, puller up her shirt, and held her baby up to her nipple to "nurse" her! Calise must have seen this because just yesterday, she came over to show me how she could "nurse" her baby, too. She pulled up her shirt and held her baby doll up to her belly button! It was hilarious.

McKindrey is a little frightened of toilets flushing right now. She always talks about whether a toilet is going to be loud or quiet, and the other night when David heard her crying and went in to see what was wrong, she told him "Calisey got flushed down the toilet!" Yesterday she did some art therapy ;) to cope with her fears, and drew lots of circles and told me it was a toilet. Then she added a little "handle" off to the side and told me she was getting flushed down with the poop.

Another funny thing McKindrey is that McKindrey can't remember the name for penis. She says "tuberis" instead!

Well last night we joined David at Bodacious Bob's Barbecue for dinner. Steve Wilson, a friend of his (and now ours-- he took us ice fishing!) is leaving his group, so they were having a going away party. It was yummy! The weather was nice yesterday, about 27C around midday, and it was still fairly warm outside when we got to Bodacious Bob's. The girls and I had fun "exploring" outside, and playing I Spy.

Calise is expanding her vocabulary rapidly. One of the phrases she copied me on recently that gave me a real kick was "OH yeaaaah." She uses it a lot now, only hers sounds a little more like "Ah yaaaaah."

I am singing in church on Sunday with Julie in Relief Society. Florence asked us to to "How Will They Know" for her Mother's Day lesson. It's a beautiful song, and even in the Children's Song Book, but I had never heard it before.

David and I are going to plant our garden this Saturday! We think we are a little late with this possibly, but at least now we won't have hard ground and we won't worry about freezing. I really hope we are successful growing some beets this summer. We didn't try them last summer, but I love them I've recently learned!

This morning it was damp and snowy.  I wish it would be warm for good! I want to play outside, go to the pool, eat dinner on the back porch, etc. Church was good, but I have been feeling so blah in my church clothes lately. Two of my four skirts are insanely tight and uncomfortable around my waist. I really want to find some simple, cute, comfortable items for my Sunday wardrobe. I started looking online today and hope I have found some good items on ModCloth. I found an outline for a 33 piece wardrobe that really appeals to the minimalist in me. It really helped me think about what colors I want to stick to so I can easily mix and match, as well as what styles I like.

I love being the Relief Society secretary. I think it is my perfect calling. I get to have a break from little kids and have relationships with adult women in RS. I can do a lot of my work from behind the scenes, and I can have fun designing little things like the newsletter and bulletin board and Christmas hand outs. I love the ladies I work with, too. I admire them so much! Florence Parker, Bernice Christensen, and Wendy Skidmore are all women I aspire to be like!  I want to be a blend of them when I grow up ;)

Wakely slept amazingly well last night! It was his first time sleeping "through the night," and he did it in a major way!  Instead of going his usual 4 hours between feedings at the beginning of the night, he went from 7:00pm to 4:45am!! It was crazy. I don't plan on that happening again for a long time, but it sure was wonderful last night.

Calise is having a hard time going to nursery. She screamed when we dropped her off. Luckily, Shai Parsons is a total angel and takes her and helps her calm down and probably holds her the entire time.

Yesterday we went to the temple and Summer watched Wakely while we did initiatories We left the girls with David's family. It is always so fun to see Summer and go out to eat with her. We went to the new Cheesecake factory at the Coronado Mall. We had a 50 minute wait! It was delicious and worth the wait, in my opinion. Summer brought up how she will be moving away after she finishes school, since there isn't much of a singles scene in NM. It made me so sad to think of that!

Today we talked about tithing in church and how the Lord blesses us for obeying commandments. I really need to become SOLID about scripture study and personal prayer. I know my family will be blessed if I do that.

Wakely's Birth

Wakely has such a fun birth story! My births seem to be getting progressively easier (knock on wood). My first birth was pretty smooth and straightforward, I couldn't believe it when it just kept getting better... not that birthing a baby is any cakewalk! Some of it has to do with my decision to do hypnobirthing starting with my second baby, which works really well for me and my husband.

I had an appointment with my midwife on Friday morning, I was 2.5 cm dilated and 50% effaced, -2 station. I went ahead and had my midwife "strip my membranes" (stretch my cervix out and down a little). With Calise, she was born the day after I had her do that, and we were so anxious to have Wakely that we decided to do it again and sure enough, it worked! I went into labor around the usual time for me-- 2:00am. Unfortunately, Calise had been throwing up through the first part of the night, poor little thing. We had been in to her room 3 times already to clean her up and settle her down and I had just gotten to bed around midnight.

My contractions were about 5 minutes apart from the beginning. Around 5:00am I moved to the couch in our bedroom for a change in position and David woke up and asked if I was okay, and I got to tell him, "We're having a baby today!" He was really excited! He tried to sleep a little longer, but shortly got up and started getting things ready.

Some time between 5:00 and 6:00 I texted my midwife. I also called and left a message. Apparently, she doesn't have good reception where she lives because she didn't get either message! Since my last two labors had been around 13 hours, I totally planned on that same time frame. I was surprised when my contractions got to be about 3 minutes apart by 6:00am. I had made an agreement with my mom that we would call them around 6:00am if my labor seemed to be following the same course of previous labors, and they would come pick up the girls so I could labor the rest of the day without having to worry about them. I made it to 5:55am and decided I better call mom up! She said she would head over.

McKindrey woke up and came to hang out with David and I. She tried to be very helpful-- helping me listen to my headphones, etc. and took it all in stride. I started trying to pack up my last few things but found it very difficult since my contractions were so close together. I was going to get dressed in pants and a cute shirt, but ended up just staying in my frumpy old "BYU Physical Education" gym shirt and the gray skirt I had worn to bed that night. Turned out to be a blessing I was in a skirt...

I started getting a little nauseated and panicky and thinking "I should be at the hospital!" But then I would tell myself I was just overreacting and I needed to stay calm.  Looking back, I am pretty sure I was in transition at that point. My water hadn't broken, and my "plan" was to head to the hospital when my water broke, just like we had with Calise's birth. So I still had this nagging idea that I wasn't as far along as my body was telling me.

I got a text from my mom just before 6:30am that they were leaving their house. I couldn't believe it!  It takes about 25 minutes for them to get to our house from theirs. I thought, "Holy cow, I don't think I can wait that long!" I made it another 15 minutes before calling them up and asking, "Where are you?" Just then I had an intense contraction and starting groaning/yelling into the phone. David managed to wrangle the phone out of my claw and told them he was getting me in the car and we were leaving. I vividly remember that being one of the first contractions that I felt like I really needed to push!

David had put on a movie for McKindrey and told her to stay where she was and watch the movie, that grandma and grandpa would be right there. He reclined the front seat of our little Hyundai Accent and I managed to hobble into the seat. I immediately put my left leg up on the dash, and when David got in, he grabbed my left hand and we rested them on my leg. It was a great birthing position, not having to hold up my own leg and having his hand to grip!

We took off and much to my relief, we passed my parents just a few minutes away from our home. I couldn't see anything since I was so reclined, and felt like I was just rolling/bumping around as David flew down the road. With each contraction I needed to push, and I told David, "Uh oh, I really need to push with my contractions." Thank goodness I have a brave husband who said, "That's okay, just do it." Almost to the top of the truck route I thought about us pulling over and suggested it to David who said we were just 5 minutes away from the hospital. I agreed we could keep driving and reminded him NOT to stop for red lights. Luckily, early on a Saturday morning we didn't hit any!

We pulled up to the ER drive through and David ran in to get help. I was alone for a moment in the car and realized I might be birthing my baby alone... I should've been really panicked. Fortunately, I had this really peaceful moment when I thought, I've done this twice before, and I'm a nurse. I can handle this. I was however, panicking about getting my underwear off in time! Luckily, David came back quickly and helped me manage that little detail. He asked about picking me up and carrying me in, but I told him not to move me! I told him to grab a blanket! David caught the head and said the sac hadn't broken. I told him, "It's fine! That's no problem!" (funny tidbit-- I learned about en caul births from watching "Call the Midwife") Then there was a nurse there who said she was a labor and delivery nurse. I was really happy to see her! She helped birth the the rest of the body. The sac broke just as the very end of baby came out... all over our car, of course!

I hurriedly pulled open my jacket and pushed up my shirt so Wakely could cuddle up on my tummy. I remember the nurse awkwardly calling the time of birth by looking at the clock on the dashboard-- 7:02am. Jennifer (the L&D nurse) was really great, reassuring all of the ER staff that the baby was totally fine, and getting lots of blankets for us. After a few minutes, they had me hold Wakely and hobble onto a stretcher. I was shocked at how many people were outside our car-- probably the whole ER! They all escorted us to the elevator and I remember saying "Good morning!" brightly to everyone. I was on cloud nine. I couldn't believe how easy the birth had been. I knew I hadn't torn and it was relatively painless, possibly because he was born in his smooth, slippery amniotic sac.

Once on the labor and delivery wing, I learned that the nurse who had helped deliver Wakely had actually been driving off in her truck when we arrived and pulled over to help. They had just finished shift change. The other nurses lamented that they had missed all the excitement. My midwife showed up after a while and delivered the placenta. It had been long enough that the placenta had come loose completely on its own and she was able to gently slide it out! It was great!

Wakely was wonderfully healthy and calm. We only had to stay in the hospital for one night!  We loved having the strand of white twinkle lights David had brought to keep our room dimly lit through the night. I felt great, too.

Wakely is a very calm baby who doesn't get fussy much. He sleeps a lot, but we don't plan on that lasting much longer. Here are his birth stats:

Date of birth: 2/13/16
Duration of labor: 5 hours
Weight: 7 lb 11 oz
Height: 20 3/4 in
Full name: Wakely Carl Parkinson

I learned that babies born "en caul" are supposed to have good luck and be very spiritual. They are also supposed to have an affinity for water! Wakely, a name we chose long ago, means "wet." It was meant to be!

Calise's Birth

I am finally getting around to writing down Calise's birth story. I wanted to get it down before I forget everything, but every spare moment I have spent catching up on sleep. I take sleep very seriously so having a newborn makes me extremely anxious about getting enough sleep.  BUT, I have decided right now to forgo some sleep to update our family blog for posterity's sake, and for anyone else who is interested (I am weird and like reading other people's birth experiences, so I guess I think some other people might be as weird as me and actually enjoy reading this)...

I started having consistent contractions at 3:00am on Tuesday, August 19th (Due date was August 17th). At my appointment with the midwife the day before I was dilated to 1.5cm and 80% effaced. Being the optimistic person she is, my midwife said she was pretty sure that baby would be here in a couple days. Being the practical person I am, I decided not to plan on any baby for another week. I didn't want to be disappointed!

So when I started having contractions that were about 12 minutes apart the next morning I thought it must not be the real thing.  With McKindrey my contractions were only 7 minutes apart from the beginning, and very consistent. I waited until about 6:00am to tell David he probably didn't have to go to work that day. He was stoked!  Probably just for the day off ;)

So, we had a fabulous day together!  The three of us went grocery shopping and went to the park.  Of course we also got all packed for the hospital and David made delicious bran muffins (some we took to the hospital with us later for the nurses-- they were totally raving about them). Contractions kept coming all day, but they varied a lot in duration and frequency, so I was really worried they might stop completely. AND then I would have kept David home from work for no reason at all. I was also getting disappointed because I thought my labor with my second child would be "much faster" as is apparently common for a lot of women.

Around 3:30pm David convinced me to call the midwife. So I did, and she recommended I come into her office to be evaluated. I didn't really want to drive clear over there, but I agreed. About 1 minute after I hung up the phone with her, my water broke!  I was pretty ecstatic because our goal had been for me to labor at home until my water broke.  We had decided to do this birth as naturally as possible (no epidural, no artificial rupture of membranes, etc.).

We all loaded into the car, dropped McKindrey off at David's parents' house, and drove up to the hospital. My contractions got more forceful and closer together after my water broke. We made it to the delivery floor and got checked in. When the nurse checked my progress they were astounded that I was 9 cm dilated! They started rushing around to get the midwife over there and get the delivery things ready. Soon my contractions were very strong, I started feeling nauseated and hot and getting annoyed by every little thing! For example, I only had one pillow. How rude of them, right? And also, they wanted to draw blood, which ticked me off. Hello, I'm in hard labor here! Once I let the poor phlebotomist near me, I didn't even feel it since I was so distracted getting ready for the next contraction.

I felt like pushing with some really intense contractions, and three or so pushes/contractions later, Calise was born! I was slightly embarrassed at all the uncontrolled noises coming from my mouth  during that last bit of labor, but everyone assures me it wash't too bad. And best of all, I didn't tear at all, which really made recovery a breeze.

In fact, we (David and I) were ready to go home the next morning, but the nurses and doctors didn't want to discharge Calise so they could further poke, prod, and otherwise torture her ;) She had to spend a night under UV lights for her slightly high bili level (one of the worst nights of my life), and she wasn't passing this new oxygen saturation test reflective of heart defects, so they threatened to airlift her to Abuquerque. Luckily, she squeaked by and we finally got to go home after 2 nights and 2 days.

Calise is a joy, and we like to laugh about all her grunts, as she makes a lot more funny noises than McKindrey did.

Stats:
Born at 4:42pm (we got to the hospital around 4:00pm) on Tuesday, August 19th
Total labor time was about 13.5 hours
6# 14 oz, 20.5 in long

After arriving at the hospital-- last pregnant picture!

Ready for Summer in our *NEW* Backyard

Well, it's been a while, but that's pretty much always the case with me and journaling, or in this case, blogging. In February, I "retired" from working part time at the Children's Clinic. Pregnancy and little kid germs are a bad mix for me-- I would get sick every weekend and infect our family as well! I definitely have a lower immune system when pregnant. So now I am enjoying even more time at home with McKindrey.

In April, we took a trip to Utah for Summer's graduation and to visit friends. It was a great break from the monotony of every day life. Just this past weekend, David completed his first 50K trail run around Los Alamos.  Crazy man!  His iPhone tracked him as doing a total of about 32.8 miles in his 50K. When I saw him at the half way point and at the finish, he hardly looked winded!  Just a smiling, excited runner! He recovered very quickly, too.

Our main devotion since March, though, has been our backyard.  Since we moved into this house, we have liked the idea of "improving the land" while we live here. Besides, we both don't mind yard work (don't ask us about that NOW....), and we LOVE being outside. I am sad I don't have many pictures of the actual process, but here are some before, during, and after pictures of our backyard FLIP! Get ready for lots of pictures. There are also some of our front yard, which we mostly fixed up last summer, but didn't require nearly as much work.

List of the major improvements we made in the backyard:
-removed old plant growth (grass and weeds), a large bush, and several bush stumps
-installed sprinkler system
-installed in-ground trampoline
-installed sod lawn, mulched areas, and brick edging
-cleaned up and mulched plant strips by house
-built and installed sandbox, compost bin, and raised garden beds
-hung hammock, swing
-created fire pit area on back patio

We still have a few details to finish, but most of the major projects are done!

Front yard:

BEFORE

AFTER

 BEFORE

AFTER

Back yard:

 BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER (sorry it's from a different angle)

 BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER (Again, sorry it's a different angle)

 BEFORE

AFTER

And, for those who are interested, here are some "during" photos:

This was so much work, we wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of so many wonderful friends and family. We are also grateful we were able to do it on a reasonable budget, since we got what we could for free and did all the work ourselves. We are way excited that we were able to wrap the major stuff up by the end of May so we can enjoy it all summer long!