Back from the land of the Uncommitted

I have been out of the blogging world for almost two months now. Of course, I have checked out of most things for the last two months. It's been fabulous. If I had my way, I would just spend all day snuggling with Graham. Since that's not realistic with four children, at minimum we have just lived life uncommitted - I don't commit to being places or doing most things (minus school and church) and we just take life as it comes. I haven't committed to having more than one room of my house clean at any given time (so if I won't let you go upstairs, you know why!). But, we are slowly getting into a new life rhythm and though we are still minimal on commitments, I am ready to start documenting our family's life again. So, of course that involves a rewind and review, as April was a very eventful month for us!

Three days after Graham was born my husband renewed his super dad/husband certification, taking the boys of for a great weekend of planned fun, leaving me and Graham to recover, sleep, and relax. We did this with Luke and it was such a win-win, the boys getting to do fun things and have daddy time while I get a break from doing anything but taking care of and bonding with the new baby.

Friday morning Matt and Nathan, Carter, and Luke headed off for some costal camping, first stoping in Banden, a costal town three hours west of here. They were lucky enough to score a yert for the night. Never heard of a yert? Neither had we, but they are these great little huts available to rent for the night on the coast. You get all the fun of camping (campfire, outdoors) with the comforts of home (bunkbeds, walls and a roof to protect from cold and rain, and electricity). It's a great way to go with young kids! The boys called them "ewok huts".

Here's what the outside of the yert looks like:

And an inside view with the boys looking comfy:
The boys being boys - getting their energy out with a boy wrestle!

In Banden, they went to a great little animal park that included tigers, camels, bears, goats, sheep, llamas, ostriches, even a peacock or two. Nathan loved looking at and touching them all. Carter and Luke liked looking, but really wished the animals would stick to looking and stay far away from them!

Peacocks happen to be one of Nathan's current favorite animals, so he was pretty excited to stand next to this real one!

Also, they hit the beach. Of course, this was like most Oregon beaches - cold, windy, and rocky. But, they are also gorgeous and fun places to explore.

Though it's a pain to clean up, I love how little boys will dive right into sand, mud, or other fun messy materials. Here they are laying and rolling around in it, making sure they could bring home some of this fun trips in every crevice and pocket.

After spending the night in Banden, they headed up to Florence, about an hour north, to check out the dunes. Now you might wonder what you do at the dunes when you don't have any of the fun toys to do with it...no worries, you can rent them! Or, in the boy's case, pay to ride on a giant dune buggy. The boys to this day still sing a song they made up on their dune buggy ride, it was so much fun. They even took them over a few hills, which was super fun on this giant dune buggy. While they waited to take their buggy ride, they played a litlte golf...minature of course.

I love the look on Nathan's face - can you say "cocky"?

A view from inside the dune buggy:

The last day of the trip ended up in Eugene. Dad of course had researched fun parks they could play at and get energy out at until the grand finale - watching "How to Train a Dragon" at the theater. The boys don't get to see movies in the theater often (come on - 3 kids ages 6 and under? Not the best use of money - we do better at home!), so this was a treat and it was especially great to have such a good "boy" movie out after the baby was born. They loved it!

Here's a picture holding up their movie tickets, anxiously awaiting:

I can't thank Matt enough for all his hard work in planning and executing this amazing boys weekend. I hope the boys will remember in some small way how much their dad loves being with them, wants to be around them, and wants to make memories for them. It's never easy, but always worth it.

And, I will end with a picture of another little guy who is worth every sleepless moment and hour tied down nursing - precious Graham:

More to come, hopefully sooner, versus later!

Baby Graham is here!

We are so excited to announce the arrival of our newest bundle of joy, Graham Hinckley Michaelis. The short of it is he was born on April 6 (5 days overdue) at 2:11 a.m. (*we have yet to EVER have had a child during the daylight hours!). He tied Nathan for our smallest baby yet at 8 lbs. 10 oz and 20 3/4" long. He is healthy and beautiful and both mom and baby are doing great.

You now have the choice to just scoll down to the photos of Graham or read on for details of the birth story. Kinda like one of those chose your own ending books. So exciting!

Monday morning at 3ish a.m. Matt and I headed into the hospital with contractions 6 minutes apart. I was crushed when they checked me and I was still only at a 1! They offered to let us walk around for an hour and then recheck before sending us packing. We did so, but it was obviously by the end of the hour the contractions weren't increasing so, as we thought, we were sent home around 6 (it amazed us how long it took them to send us home!).

Monday was a rough day, as the contractions were still strong but only 10 minutes apart...all...stinkin'...day...long! The same thing actually happened with Luke, so it shouldn't have surprised me. But, finally an hour after we went to bed, I decided it was real enough to wake my sleep deprived husband and have him take me to the hospital. Again.

This time I checked in dilated to a 7 and they told me I was definitely staying. Two and a half hours after arrival, out came baby Graham! Matt and I actually laughed looking back on the end of my delivery in that they gave me the go ahead to push, and then left the room! I am sure they were getting things ready, but Matt was motified to see a head and only the floor beneath it to catch it's fall! Luckily, everyone finally got their act together and things turned out fine.

We were so blessed to have my sister here to help with the kids (more details on her visit to come) and have had so many friends pitch in as well to help with the transition. Thank you! Also, my superhero husband took the kids away on a trip as I recovered, which was just amazing and I will gush about that in another post. But, for now, no more delaying - on to the pictures!!

Graham minutes after arrival! Yes, Nathan and Luke were also born with that dark hair...it sadly falls out and then after the awkward half-bald stage they turn out blondies.

The proud (though incredibly sleep deprived) dad of four boys!

A family of 6 - wow, it's crazy to think we have FOUR kids.

Each boy wanted to take their turn holding Graham and everyone seemed excited about his arrival. Carter is singing head, shoulders, knees, and toes, making sure we didn't get gyped any important parts!

Some close up views...

The boys can't keep their hands off him, in a loving way, and I love how this picture captures that as Carter couldn't resist reaching in and touching him while I was taking pictures.

Of all the kids, Carter is probably the most captivated with his new baby. He can't wait to touch him, hold him, and see him every morning. Carter, I am finding, has a soft spot for babies and animals, which is a very sweet side to my little firecracker kiddo.

Finally, to answer the question I know you all have: who does he look like? Well, to me he just looks like "his brothers", but I will let you determine yourself. In order, here are two pictures of each boy, ending with Graham. What do you think?

Spring oh how we love thee!

Of course I started this post on a gorgeous spring Saturday and now as I write we have had rain all day mixed with occasional snow flakes...so a sunny spring isn't fully upon us. But rain is part of spring and we have been so happy for the tastes of sunshine we have had the last few weeks.

We were very excited to have a family Saturday this past weekend. Matt has been busy with his stake sports obligations every Saturday for the last 2 1/2 months, and it's finally done so we happily headed out without time constraint or obligation on Saturday as a family to a gorgeous wooded park in Ashland called Lithia Park. Any of you who have visited us have been there because it's just such a beautiful way to spend a day.

We had a picnic and then whipped out a classic and favorite ball game of ours - track ball. Our set is literally from decades ago, but you can actually now get this outdoor game at Target as it has been re-released. It's definitely worth the $10. We have a lot of fun with it and Matt loves having anyone to play catch with.

Boys ready for some picnic goodness! (And Luke just trying to find the cookies...)

Carter, like a lot of kids, can be Jekyl and Hyde when it comes to picture taking. Here is what I call his "anti-paparazzi" face:

Then, minutes later, the goofy smile we love him for!

The track ball action begins!

After our picnic and sports, we headed off down the trail into the woods to enjoy the nature. The boys had a fun time trying out the simple pleasures such as stick races and Nathan got a kick out of this natural seat.

In the midst of the woods is a pretty (though probably manmade) duck pond, with the occasional otter spotting. No otters were seen this trip, but we loved this duck that looked like someone painted it.

The boys looking handsome in front of the beautiful spring blossoms!

The boys were determined to wade in the water. So, we let them try and then laughed at their squeals that somehow this snow run-off wasn't very warm!

Nathan's GQ pose infront of the duck pond

It was a perfect family day. Beyond that I guess you could say I am "nesting", though in my mind it's totally practical to be cleaning and organizing - I don't want someone coming over to my house in the middle of the night if I make a mid-night run to the hospital and be met with a dirty house! Plus, the more that is clean now, the more I know I will be able to relax and enjoy our baby.

These pictures are what happens when mom is in a cleaning mode and is in charge of the FHE lesson. We had a lesson on WORK! We read a bunch of scriptures about the eternal nature of work and cleanliness and then our activity was...(drumroll please) bathroom cleaning. You had better hope there was a good treat after that one! Actually, the boys love cleaning and "wiping", and will clean a whole bathroom for me (decently well) for only a nickel each. I love cheap labor.

2 Weeks and you bet I am counting!

I have decided the hardest thing about the end of the pregnancy is you have to accept that this is really happening (I tend to ignore reality sometimes...), at least enough to have general plans - visited the hospital, family coming to help, plans on where to send the kids, pack (or thought about packing) a bag. But, then once you accept that this is happening, it seems like every day is taking FOR-EV-ER to pass and your due date that seemed just around the corner is so far away. I can't complain physically, I feel great, but man, emotionally I have hit THAT point. And obviously, I understand by now that a due date is not an exact thing - I have had one baby a week late, one a week early, and one just about on time. Though it does make me laugh when my mom asks me every week, "So do you know yet when that baby is going to be born?" Nope, not yet mom!

I was excited to break up the waiting game with a baby shower that some sweet friends in the ward planned and hosted for me. Obviously, clothes aren't really the biggest need for boy no. 4, but man did we score on diapers. The kids insisted on making a tower of them and then totaling how many diapers we had. The number is currently up to 942. Hooray! Depending on how much this little guy poops, this could hold us for 3-4 months! Thanks to all who helped make my shower happen, it was a wonderful relaxing morning and we are so grateful for all the gifts.

Here is my latest belly shot, put next my first two. The doctor actually did an ultrasound last week to make sure the baby won't break the 10 lb. barrior, as Luke almost did. Ultrasounds aren't exact as far as size goes, but even give or take a pound, this baby stands to be even smaller than Luke.

The "loot"! There are a lot of talented women in the ward, so it included beautiful hand made booties, hats, afgans, and even a quilt (the Primary President makes a quilt for every baby born in the ward - and that is no small number!). I was super excited to see the quilt was in the colors I picked out for the baby's room - green and brown.

Oh the wonderful sight of abundant diapers!

One gal in our ward is talented with vinyl lettering and made these shirts for the boys. I thought they were just SO incredibly creative and cute and the boys LOVED them and insisted on wearing them on Saturday.

Besides waiting, life is just same old same old. In the words of Nathan, "I am so tired of waiting for April! Everything happens in April!" Of course, he is just thinking of Easter, Carter's birthday party, and then his birthday and could care less about the baby being born, but it does stand to be a much more exciting month. But, here are some day to day snippets and smiles.

We asked the boys to get dressed on Sunday and this is as far as Luke got. No pants, no shirt, just his sweater, toga style. This is how new trends get started you know...

If you are what you eat, my boys are most definitely a large bowl of cereal. Even my best attempts to not get Luke to go the ways of his brothers (P-I-C-K-Y) don't always pan out when this is what the big boys are doing.

I loved the day that Nathan realized he could read most of Luke's books and started reading to his brothers. Luke LOVES to read and it's such a great help to have Nathan read to Luke.

Matt is always an avid exerciser and sometimes the boys like to help make sure dad is in tip top shape. Maybe I should try this in one of my classes - father son weight lifting!

A few weekends ago we made a quick trip to Utah for a family sealing. It was awesome to see family, even for only a day and a half, and a surprisingly refreshing trip for being so short. Matt's brother Tim just bought this scooter to save money for around town trips and the kids had a blast even just sitting on it.

Vroom vroom!

I have never seen this type of smile on Nathan before. The power of the machine must have overcome him.

Of course, the big kid had to try it too. He took it for a couple of loops around the block. Too bad we just couldn't figure out how this would be practical for us to get for our home t0wn.

Hopefully my next post will be a baby announcement!!!