No time for Fussing or Fighting my Friends . . .

First of all, I'd just like to thank everyone out there who commented on our last post. Chris was very proud of himself for getting the most comments on my blog EVER when he did his first post. I told him he could take over whenever he wants. I also wanted to mention about my hubby that he got PUBLISHED in "Special Warfare Magazine". It was a book review that he wrote for one of his classes. Pretty neato-skeeto, if you ask me.

So anyhoo, it's been a busy couple of weeks over here at the O'Gwin Ranch. Everybody was really excited to start school and they are enjoying their friends, teachers, and learning. (Not so much on the homework, but I guess that would be asking a bit too much.) Kate jumped right into preschool and is loving it (as soon as she stops clinging to Chris' leg and he can escape out the door, that is.) I dropped the ball and forgot about my tradition of making brownies for the girls on their first day of school, but we made them for the second day and they tasted just as good. Aly also had a "Back to School Lemonade Stand". After it was all over we found out that Aly had made Lise buy a glass of lemonade because "I caught her sipping the lemonade, so I made her pay". Who knows how many glasses Lise had a sip out of . . . Lise also has been boasting that she can go a whole day of school without needing to go potty once! No wonder she needed to sip that lemonade so bad; she was probably dehydrated! So, of course, I need to talk about Kate. Ever since she has come back from Utah she has been retesting the limits to see what she can get away with. Tonight when our home teacher was over she runs up to him with her dress up heels on and says "Look at me. I'm picking my nose!" Lovely. She also keeps trying to boss everybody around (great leadership skills! ha, ha.) She was chasing Lise around the house the other day trying to wash her mouth out with soap. She was trying to boss my mom around one evening during bed time and my mom was like, "forget it" and walked out of the room. Kate was yelling at her to come back and then when she didn't we heard Kate say to herself, "dang it!" It's rough realizing you're not the boss of the world. Luckily she hasn't taken any of "adjustments" out on Kylie.

And as for me, I've been slowly trying to work back into the swing of things while at the same time being a lazy bum and taking full advantage of my mom being here and taking care of everything. She's here one more week . . . it's going to be rough when she goes and we're all going to miss her.

Another thing I've been doing is shopping for a house! (Seems like the perfect thing to be doing when you have a baby, right?) Since we're going to be moving in December to Florida, we are now working with a realtor to find a house. I am very nervous about buying a house I've never seen (except in pictures), but I like the lady helping us and I have a few church friends down there who will go look at the houses for me. Wish me luck!

And finally, I'll leave you with a few pictures of my beautiful little Kylie girl, who continues to be an angel baby (possibly because Grandma is holding her all the time and spoiling her from the get go!)

BIG K, little k, What begins with K?

Kylianne...that's who!

(BTW, this is Chris posting - so, this post will lack any cleverness usually associated with this blog - however, there may be a hint of sarcasm here and there!!!)

After a grueling 2 and a half hours of "official" labor (sarcastic - Stacy made it look easy), Kylianne O'Gwin was born on Wednesday, 4 August 2010. Some of the specifics:

1. Born at 10:42 am (PST)
2. 6 lbs. 4 oz.
3. 20 inches long
4. Ain't she cute!? (not sarcastic)

She's a tiny little thing - beautiful in every way!

Mom and baby are doing great, and will be coming home from the hospital shortly - baby Ky is a very mellow baby...to which Stacy (and I) is grateful for!

Aly has been fighting Grandma for baby time, and loves her new little sister - she's even threatened to steal her and take her home early so she can have her all to herself - I just hope she is this interested when she realizes she's old enough to change a diaper or two....

Lise is excited as ever - she's such a good big sister. Very loving and cuddly.

And then there is Kate - who is beside herself that she is no longer the "baby" or the "littlest sister." She loves holding Kyli...but we're not sure we like her doing it yet!

As for me? Well, I'm currently taking large sum, tax deductible, donations for the "Save Chris when his Girls are Dating Fund." A prospect that even now gives me the shivers on a hot day and cold sweats at night - but I love all my girls...Especially Stace - I LOVE YOU BABE!

Lady in Waiting . . .

Whoa, Mama(s)! Look at those bellies! Here I am at a double baby shower with my friend Angie who is due a week after me. The ward thew a great party for us! My last week before baby and kids was just as eventful as all the rest. I went to my doctor's appointment and *surprise*, I was dilated to a 3. This led to some quick packing, a lot of speculation, and another OB appointment the next day to see if I needed to be induced earlier than planned. But, alas, I am still here. I am scheduled to be induced this Wednesday though, so the countdown is on!

Meanwhile, I was able to work on scrapbooking for the first time in over 3 years. (see pictures below). I've decided to only scrapbook our family Christmas letters along with the professional pictures we take every year. I'm hoping that I can at least do that much!

Besides that, I was able to spend a great birthday with my hubby. It really has been fun just hanging out together these past few weeks - really comfortable and relaxed. We saw a couple more movies (I think we hit every blockbuster for the summer) and he has been so nice at helping me in my "fragile" condition. :)

I must mention, however, that Chris has had something else demanding his attention for the past couple of weeks besides me . . . a gopher has made it into our garden. Chris is at war with this thing and it is hilarious to watch him go out and use various methods to try and get rid of the thing. I told him he reminded me of Elmer Fudd, and do you know what he said? "Be vewy, vewy, quiet. I'm hunting a gopher." Gotta love it.

And finally, I have spent this past week stocking up on groceries and what-not in preparation for my kiddos and my parents to come back into town tomorrow - I am so excited to see them! And speaking of food, it was so funny when we'd talk to them on the phone that food was one of the major conversation pieces. Aly let us know that they got ice cream every night before dinner while they were camping, Lise told us they had pizza three nights in a row, and Kate would always let me know what kind of cereal everyone had for breakfast (that is, when Kate was actually willing to talk to us. Most of the time she utterly refused. We think she is punishing us for leaving her.) I think it is so funny that of all the things going on in their day, food is the thing they choose to talk about. Kids are great - I can't wait to get mine back tomorrow (along with a fourth on Wednesday - I'm excited to meet her too! I'll try to post pics as soon as is feasible.)