Two fun videos of my sweet girls!!

These are mostly for the grandparents, but fun nonetheless!

Spring Break Recap

We had a great time in Utah for spring break. We may have to do this every year. The drive wasn't bad at all! I'm sure it helped that we were able to stop at my parents place in St. George and get a good nights rest along the way. As we were heading into Salt Lake, we realized we had plenty of time to stop in and see Ryan and Sue! (Paul's brother and his family) The kids were ecstatic to see the snow and immediately wanted to go out and play. We were not well outfitted, but Ryan and Sue hooked us up with some socks and gloves. The kids didn't seem to mind.

Uncle Ryan was so great to get out there and help them in their adventures. We sure feel blessed that we have Aunts and Uncles that love our kids so much...and make them feel that way.

Ella and Romey were thrilled to have a sleepover that night at Romey's house. The rest of us headed to my sisters and got settled in. The next morning before church we decided to take Jack, Max, and Nora down to the Temple grounds. It was a lot of fun and the boys had a ball. They really are good little buddies...most of the time.

It was fun to show them the inside of the Conference Center so they would know what they were looking at during conference next weekend.

That night we went to Grandpa and GrandMary's for the party I mentioned in the post about Nora's birthday. I just wanted to include a couple more pictures from it.

Grandpa and GrandMary gave all the kids new swimsuits for Easter. They were so cute and the kids were so excited. They had to celebrate with a dip in the hot tub. I was really tempted to include a picture of the fun, but didn't know if Uncle Ryan would appreciate it as he was pulling "bodybuilder" moves in all of them. The other picture is of my little man Max and Grandpa. Do they have twinner smiles or what?!! Just click on the pictures to enlarge them.

We were able to take the two oldest skiing one of the days there and it was SO MUCH FUN!! We put them in ski school for a couple of hours and had a ball skiing for the first time together. That means that I hadn't been skiing for over 14 years?!!! It's hard for me to believe that as I spent a lot of time skiing growing up. Lucky for me it really is like riding a bike...you don't forget! After ski school we got the kids and did the beginner lift with them about a dozen times. They loved it and we will be doing this again FOR SURE! I've decided spring skiing is the way to go.

Last but not least we decorated Easter Eggs with my sister's kids Jacob, Sarah, and Sam. Of course we waited until Nora was fast asleep and the fun began. They were so polite and patient while taking turns. The kids were lucky to be able to decorate eggs again Saturday night with Grammie down in St. George on our return trip. Thanks to Grandparents, and Aunts and Uncles, I didn't plan one Easter activity and my kids did them all! On Saturday morning we did an Easter egg hunt at my sister's house with a lot of the cousins and they had a great time. I wish I would've gotten a picture because they were so cute running around the front and back yard. Ella even got the "eggstra" special egg with a $5 bill!!

I had to finish off with some pics of the cute kids. Ella is wanting to cut off her hair again. I'm so glad because she refuses to let me do much with it. We just have to wait until after her play is finished. She needs a ponytail! Jack fell on a playground and got a bruise above his lip. Max spent a lot of time contemplating the best way to decorate his egg. What cuties!!

Love this kind of media!!

I was sent a link to this movie trailer by my cousin. It looks so interesting. I of course am going to run out and see it as soon as I can. I love his play on his most famous line from Ferris Bueller's Day Off at the end.

Happy Birthday Nora Jayne!!

This is long, but I had to include the exciting story (and video) of Nora's birth for posterity sake. Enjoy!

You can see how behind I am on everything because Nora's birthday was on March 18th! We were in Utah, and I cannot get my act together. Here are a couple of pictures from the celebration(s)!

GrandMary had party at her house for St. Patricks Day, Easter, and the March birthdays. Here is Nora with her birthday tutu on Crew's scooter! She loved pretending on that thing.

Here she is on her actual birthday at my sister Heather's house. She is patiently waiting for the cupcakes.

Not so patient after a while!

The time has arrived!!

Making a wish and blowing out the candles!

It was WAY low key this year, but she didn't seem to mind! Don't you love that adorable crown headband that GrandMary got for her? It was a perfect birthday girl accessory for the day!

I found the video clip we sent to people after her birth...in our car. Yes, she was born in the car! I will post it below. Everyone asks me if I was freaking out. The answer is actually NO! I wasn't nervous at all...just shocked! I mean, that doesn't happen to rational people...that live 5 minutes from the hospital!! I'm sure a lot of it had to do with the fact that Paul was born in the car and I had heard the story so many times that I knew it could be done.

Anyway, here is the story for documentation purposes. Nora is child #4 in 5 years. I had relatively fast labors with my first two, and a really fast one with #3. So, I knew it was possible for this one to be fast too. Ella was 9 days early, Jack was 11 days late (can you imagine my state of mind), and Max was just a day late. Here I was 4 days overdue having just endured a house fire. I will post about that later...scary scary scary!! Anyway, I had been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off for the last 5 days with the whole fire thing and was actually grateful that the baby was safely inside me at that time.

The night after all the fire cleanup was finished I woke up with contractions at about 2:00am. I knew this was probably it, but I hate waiting around the hospital so I decided to go and watch some T.V. to wait a while. After a half an hour I thought that I should call the hospital and see if the "birthing center" (a special room available on a first come first serve basis for mothers who are having natural births) was available. I figured if it was available I'd rush down there to get it. They told me it wasn't so I decided to sit in the bath and wait a while since I'd be in a regular room when I got there. Once I got in the bath the contractions were a lot stronger and less than 3 minutes apart. It has only been about an hour since I woke up at this point, and I convinced myself that they were stronger and closer because I was up and moving around getting the bath ready. I was sure they would settle down once I relaxed in the tub. NOPE! After ten minutes I figured I better get to the hospital and sit in their birthing tub. As I tried to get out of the tub and get dried off I only had about 30 seconds between contractions. I woke up Paul and told him we had to go. He rolled out of bed and started getting dressed. I had the hardest time getting dressed because I was hunched over waiting out the contractions.

I think Paul knew I meant business when we were about to walk out the door and I told him to go wake up my Mom and tell her we were leaving (thank goodness she was there). He said she would figure it out, but at this point I was on all fours and barked at him, "I'm not moving for at least one minute...GO TELL HER!" Once that contraction passed we got in the car. We weren't 1/4 mile away when yes, we got pulled over!!! I felt like I was in a bad sitcom!! Paul was tempted to keep going, but I was afraid we'd cause a much bigger incident. I HATE how long it takes officers to come to your window these days. Plus, they hang back and lean into the window like your going to lash out at them or something. When he came up to the window Paul just told him I was in labor and we needed to get to the hospital. He looked at me and said, "I'm also a medic...can I help?" NO!!! JUST LET ME GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!! Anyway, he let us go and followed us. Paul was on the phone most of the time with the hospital giving them the play by play. It's kinda nice when your hubby knows most of the staff. I don't think he realized the gravity of the situation because he kept calmly telling the ER, "She says we won't make it up to the delivery floor," or "She says we aren't going to make it to the ER."

Well, about a minute after the officer let us go my water broke! For me that means a baby is coming. This is my favorite part of the story. I told Paul that she was coming on the next contraction and proceeded to pull my pants down. He looks at me in horror and says "don't pull your pants down!!!" As if that's going to stave off the birth of the baby or something. I just looked at him and said, "I have to!" Just as I thought her head came out with the next contraction. I had been trying to lay my seat down but the dang carseat behind me wouldn't allow it!! We were in the hospital parking lot at this point and as her shoulders came out we were pulling into the ambulance bay. There was a line of doctors and nurses lined up with warm blankets and equipment. It was 15 degrees outside that March day.

We pulled up and they opened my door and started their work. Paul jumped in the backseat to unbuckle the carseat behind me and realized once he was finished that he couldn't get out because the car was surrounded. So, with his quick thinking he grabbed the video camera and started filming. Here is a short clip of what transpired after that. Don't worry, the over the shoulder shot makes for a completely PG viewing. The guy saying "go, go" is the police officer. Right before this shot he had asked me if I was mad at him. No, I wasn't, but I'm sure it made for some good stories for his buddies.

So, there you go! The first exciting minutes of our sweet Nora Jayne's life...two years ago! I was thinking that some good may come from this and that we would get a break on the hospital costs...not so! We actually got charged MORE!! They charged us with an ER fee, and a delivery fee. Their justificaiton was that they count the delivery as the place where the placenta is delivered...WHAT?!!! So, we got charged for the whole shabang and then some!! In hindsight, I just should have stayed home and had her there. Oh well, live and learn. We are so glad she is ours no matter how she came! We cannot imagine our life without her. She has the hearts of everyone in this family.

He's the man!!!

Yes, I smudged out all the personal info., but I promise that's my hubby they are talking about!! We are so so proud of him!!

Home Sweet Home

We got home just an hour ago from being in Utah for 10 days!!! We had a great time, but I am SO DARN GLAD to be home. We walked into a clean home, (great planning on my part if I do say so myself) and the smell of the orange blossoms outside almost made me giddy. I seriously think there is no better aroma in the world!! Thanks for all your comments on my last post. I have a lot to say about it, so check back. For now I am going to soak in being back to a place I am growing to love even more and more!!

Musings on going PRIVATE, and other randomness.

I've been so bad lately at leaving comments on peoples blogs because I am SO DARN BUSY! I wish I had the time and energy to give everyone the support they deserve but I just can't. I've been out of town and now I feel SO BEHIND!

On another note...Private blog? I know, I know, I've done this before, and I know it's a hot topic of late. I haven't made up my mind yet, but to be honest there is another motive to this possibility. Like I said in the above paragraph I feel like I'm falling short on yet another thing when I am not properly caught up on peoples blogs. HOW RIDICULOUS IS THAT?! I have a hard time feeling adequate in anything I do, but I'm thinking being "up" on every one's blogs is not something I need to worry about. So, here is my theory. If I'm private then only the people that really do care about me and my life will request an invite. This will shorten my list of bloggers that I in turn need to worry myself about. How lame am I to think that other bloggers even care about if my blog is private or not?

On to more randomness. I really do think I'm over the "need" for comments. C'mon now...admit it...you all like comments and always want more. The thing is, I'd really like to know WHO is reading my blog. Not because I'm worried, but because it's a little awkward when your in Primary Presidency meeting, your telling a story that you blogged about, and someone says, "oh ya, I read that in your blog." What?! I'd like to save myself from the embarrassment of retelling stories to people over and over again. Or, when you run into someone you haven't seen for a while or don't know really well and they tell you about all their friends who read your blog. Let me say that I think it's great, and NO it doesn't creep me out, but I'd really love to know who people are. I really am friendly and am not going to think your weird if you read it.

I have gotten back in touch with a few of girls that I knew in High School just because they were brave enough to leave a comment. (Shannan, Ashli and Sarah) Granted, we were more acquaintances than friends then, but now I really do consider them great friends and examples. Isn't that one of the great things about blogging?

Anyway, enough of the ranting. I'd love to know who you are. Let me know what you think about me going private. If my blog isn't your bag...no prob-lem-o! Like I said, I just want to know who my friends are and give myself permission to narrow my "blogging friend" world. Thanks to all of you who have always been so supportive of me and made me feel better than I really am. I know I'm not the most exciting, witty, creative blogger. I know I don't have amazing visual pictures or stimulate the mind, but what you see is what you get...it's me.

TTA - What's in a name?

This could get really long, but I'll just start and see where it takes me!

Kara Jayne:

I am the youngest of six kids. My parents have told me that when I was born my Dad was really wanting to name me Kara. With the first five my Mom mostly got her way, but he felt like this time he wanted what he wanted. Since my Mom had to coerce and cajole my Dad for kid numbers 5 & 6 I think she felt like it was the least she could do. Apparently my Dad had a cousin who married a girl named Kara and my Dad really liked it. My Mom suggested the middle name Jayne and really wanted it spelled with a "Y". I'm so glad she did. I think it looks so nice and is just a little different. I considered naming each of my girls Jayne as a first name.

I have always loved having a middle name and still go by it in many circles. There are a few people in my life who have never called me anything but Kara Jayne...and I love it!

Quick funny note about my name. When my parents brought me home and all my siblings were there to meet their new baby sister, they asked what my name was. When my parents said, "Kara Jayne" they all twisted their faces in confusion. They couldn't say it or understand why it wasn't easier like Karen, or Kari. I think they even exclaimed, "why would you name such a cute baby such an ugly name?" Funny thing is that now they all claim it is one of their favorites. Isn't that how it goes with names? It's more about the person than the actual name.

Ella Elizabeth:

I'm using these old pictures of the kids because they are just so cute! This is Ella just after she turned 5.

Ever since I was in High School I wanted to name a daughter after my Grandmother. Her name was Ella May. Paul and I were married for 5 years before we had children and in that time I had learned a few things about Paul. I knew that if I came right out with the fact that I wanted to name our baby Ella, then I would most likely be met with strong resistance. I causally mentioned it a few times and lucky for me it stuck. I think it had to grow on him, but he now admits to loving it.

I really wanted to name her Ella Mae, but I think that was a bit much for him. I'm sure it didn't help that we were living in Kentucky at the time and he thought it sounded too "southern" for his taste.

I've always love the elegance of the name Elizabeth. One of my dearest friends of all time is named Elizabeth and it seemed the right choice. Paul's grandmother was also named Elizabeth. Sometimes I do wish I could change it to Mae because Ella Elizabeth is a bit of a tongue twister...I may have still had the traces of the pain killer in my system. We sure LOVE our girl, and LOVE her name.

John McMillan "Jack":

In this picture Jack had just turned 3.

I wish I could blame this one on pain killers, but I only took one pain killer with Ella and none with any of my other deliveries. Our dear Jack isn't named Jack at all. I really wanted to name him Jack, but I really wanted all of my kids to have one of their names to be a family name. Paul's middle name is John and Jack is a popular nickname for John. (John F. Kennedy, being the most famous - his family all called him Jack) So we decided on John for the first name and we would call him Jack.

Then when it came to the middle name we thought of Stuart which is my Dad's name. But to be honest I didn't really want to use it up in case I had two more boys. I would have loved it as a first name. So, we decided to use McMillan which is his grandfather's last name. Paul and his grandpa were really close and he had two daughters. The name McMillan was going to die with him and we really wanted to carry it on. So, Jack is named after both his Dad and his Grandpa. Sometimes I wish we had just named him Jack and been done with it, but this way he is named after his Dad. I'm curious to know your thoughts about the John/Jack thing. If you Google it there is a lot of info on it.

Maxwell Paul:

Max was just 15 months in this picture.

Max was easy to name. I've always loved the name Max and it seemed to go well with our short and sweet pattern. Paul really liked short strong names for the boys. We settled on Maxwell as the full name pretty quickly after only slightly considering alternatives like Maxmilian, Maximus, and just plain Max. Of course we had to use Paul with one of our boys and it flowed so well with Maxwell. I love that both of my boys are named after their Dad.

Nora Jayne:

Here is my Nora Jayne at about 5 months old.

Nora wasn't named right away. We had a whole list of names that included Kate, Lucy, Jayne, Maggie, Meg, Layne, etc. If Max was a girl he was going to be Kate. He wasn't, and then Paul's sister (one of my best friends) had a daughter and named her Kate. Not wanting to step on toes or ruffle any feathers Paul felt pretty strongly that we shouldn't use the name. To be honest I was heartbroken and really wanted to use it. She would've been either Mary Kate (call her Kate) or Katie Jayne. Once I resigned myself to the fact that I would never have a Kate I really struggled. I was SO CLOSE to naming her Jayne, but to be honest it is such a hard name to put a middle name with. I know a lot of girls like not having middle names, but I loved having one so much that I wanted to give that to my girls.

Ella had the cutest little friend in Wisconsin that was named Nora. It just fit so perfectly with our classic (or as I like to call them "grandma and grandpa") names. That is how Nora Jayne was chosen. I must admit that I LOVE LOVE LOVE her name. I rarely call her just Nora. She will probably end up like me with her family always calling her Nora Jayne. Obviously the middle name came from me.

I love the names of my kids even if they are fairly common. I love that they are classy, and that people don't get confused. I actually like not so common names too. I went through a stage in college when I thought I wanted all my kids to have really unique names. At the time I thought Ella would be one of those!

So, there you have it! Probably more detail than you care about, but good for family history purposes.

Blog Backup!!

Don't you fear that you will lose everything on your blog? I did and my husband found Blog Backup Online. We've checked our free account a few time since and it has all been securely saved. It definitely gives me peace of mind as this thing is my journal, correspondence, family history, and scrapbook all in one. Just thought I'd pass it on to anyone who is interested.

Sunday Stew - Main ingredient...Nora!

While I let the water boil (aka wait for the pics to upload...blogger is having issues) for the stew I wanted to make a few comments on previous post questions/comments:

My Hair:

I like it. I think I will go shorter. I did not color it, but am thinking I may need to join the ranks of the hair colorers ( I know it's not a word). I'm getting used to the bangs...a little. They hide the wrinkles on my forehead...and the random zits I've suddenly been getting this month. What will I have to do to get 38 comments again?

My Parents "shut-up" story:

That is SO TYPICAL of my parents to act that way. First of all, I never ever ever carried a key growing up. Even after we were all married I always knew I could get into my parents house somehow...even if they were out of town. Second, they don't scare easily. Of course they were startled, but their first reaction was concern for the girl. Like I said...typical. They are so easy going with that kind of thing and I'm sure didn't fear for themselves AT ALL. All I have to say is that the girl is so lucky that she chose my parents unit. There is nowhere else I'd rather go if I were in dire straights. They love and take in anyone.

My thumbs:

Here is the picture I promised you.

I know it's hard to see. I didn't have anyone here to take a decent picture for me. The picture shows it opposite of what it really is. My right thumb is relatively normal looking. My left thumb is much shorter and stubbier. Like I said, the funny thing is that the right is just like my mom's, and the left stubby is just like my dad's. Fun for me, but I do often get double takes and funny looks...especially if I'm getting a manicure or something.

Now on to the stew!

So, one of our good friends came in town for a conference and stayed with us for just one night before the conference started. Brandon is Sally's husband. (on my sidebar, but private...too bad for you). When he left in the morning I went in to strip the bed. This is what I found...

Who does this? Translation...what MAN does this? The bed was made with the sheets neatly folded at the foot of the bed. I had to show in the second picture how perfectly the fitted sheet was folded. I can't even fold fitted sheets that well. Sally always told me how helpful he was around the house but C'MON!! Needless to say, they are welcome to visit anytime...even if the bed is left unmade!!

Max LOVES avocados. He would eat three a day if I let him. So, what to do with all those avocado seeds? SPROUT THEM! Am I the only one who did this as a kid? Yes, it takes FOREVER for the initial sprout, but they are so much fun to watch grow.

Here is our little avocado garden on top of the dining room hutch! (don't mind the dust) Then a close up shot. Finally I took a few down to show the stages. So, if your looking for something to do with those avocado seeds (I know you've been dying to know) here is an idea!

Nora decided to use my new hair product (not cheap by the way) to smooth her dry skin. She is so cute even when she is getting in trouble!

Miss Ella Belle finally lost her other front tooth! You wouldn't think this could actually make her cuter, but it does!

Nora is becoming MUCH more comfortable in the water and cracks us up to watch in the bath. She spreads out and waits for the water to fill up and almost cover her face. Her body is all stretched out. It's so funny! If you look close, her left eye is still a little brown from the black eye incident! I'm getting a little worried now that it's been over two months!

Nora thought she would be really funny and put on some of Jack's undies. She was dancing around the room. Of course she had to still have her shiny purse in hand. In the second picture it's hard to see, but she must have picked up that when wearing these underwear, the hand must be placed in between the legs. She's learned from the best!

Happy Birthday Dave!! (February 27th)

OK, so I'm really late on this, but better late than never right?! RIGHT?! My brother Dave is 2 years and 5 days older than I am and I love him SO MUCH!! I just had to do a little photo tribute of some of our good times together. You can click on the pictures to enlarge if you so desire.

L to R: posing with our cute smiles, in the backyard with the clown sprinkler, indian and nurse for halloween.

L to R: Dave and my older brother Brian gazing at their new baby sister...ME!, don't you love face painting?, dave practicing his trumpet in my ear.

L to R: more halloween costumes, our first computer (an apple of course)...do we look suprised?, first day of 7th and 9th grades. (he was pretty much my idol at this point!)

L to R: The two of us right before he left on his mission, then my friend Ashley and I giving him a welcome home kiss when he returned!

Here he is with a few of his girls (he has 4). He's a great Dad and it's so fun to live by them.

Here they all are. Dave, Natalie, Andrew, Ashley, Lauren, Hannah, and Audrey!

Dave and his wife Natalie. Aren't they a gorgeous couple? Sure love these guys!

I feel so lucky to have Dave in my life. He is such a great person and brother. Here is 35 things I love about Dave:

1. He is handy.

2. He loves gadgets.

3. He's easy to be around.

4. He doesn't always have to say his opinion (unlike his little sister).

5. I'm always proud to tell people he's my brother.

6. He is very fit.

7. He actually WANTED to run the St. George marathon with Paul and I (who probably slowed him down).

8. He always makes me feel good about myself.

9. Growing up he knew how to tell me things in a kind way where I didn't feel bad about myself or question his love for me.

10. He's easy to talk to, but doesn't have to be the center of attention.

11. He looks so much like my Dad at the same age...so so handsome!

12. He's not needy.

13. He's got self confidence without being arrogant.

14. He loves music as much as I do.

15. He lives by me... and claims that he is glad!

16. He and Paul are good friends.

17. He is a great water skier and golfer.

18. He is a positive/optimistic person.

19. We have had a lot of similar experiences. (study abroad to Israel, working as Senate pages in Washington D.C., etc.)

20. He chose an awesome wife.

21. He's an awesome dentist.

22. He likes Tab.

23. He loves Hot Tamales, and Cinnamon Bears (only the sweets brand please).

24. He looked out for me in Jr. High and High School.

25. He let me sleep in his room on Christmas Eve growing up.

26. He is very non-judgmental.

27. He is a very hard worker.

28. He likes Nacho Libre.

29. He is decisive.

30. He is really accepting of all types of people.

31. He likes to buy things from infomercials.

32. He doesn't worry about what other people think about him.

33. He likes sushi.

34. He is so great with my kids.

35. He is and always will be one of my best friends.

I LOVE YOU DAVE!!