Oh how we love you Elder Tyler

Yep he's going to miss Little Miss Lizzie but they'll always have their "Hey Hey"s
Ya Abby's oblivious but the crazy thought is when Tyler get's back she'll be Lizzie's Age
What up little guy! Tyler was so excited for Will to get here and now he has to go it's alright we'll play some more when you get back in a couple.

My little brother left for the MTC yesterday and we are surly going to miss him and his mad "uncling" skills but are so excited for his new adventures in Mexico and the great decisions he has made. Lots of love to you my brother!

The Mommy Survey

Sorry Lex I saw this on your blog and had to copy it just to see if I could remember it all.

1. Age(s)? 4, 20 mos and 3 1/2 weeks
2. Name(s)? Elizabeth Jean (Lizzie), Abigail Grace (Abby), William David (Will)
3. Birthdays? 9/27, 5/25, 12/31
4. Time(s) of birth? 2:13 A.M., 5:20 P.M., 2:54 P.M.
5. How long did labor last? Lizzie was 21 hours, Abby 8 hours Will 7.5 hours I was induced with Abby and Will I don't know if I'll ever go on my own again I loved being induced!
6. Who was in the room when baby was born? It's always just been Jeremy and the Dr/nurses. The Dr almost didn't make it in time for Will (Slightly Scary and stressful. I had to ignore the baring down pains for almost 30 minutes and once the dr got there he just said "Go ahead and push" I found it kind of frustrating)
7. How long did you push? Almost 2 Hours with Lizzie (she got stuck! They had to use a suction cup to get her out) Abby was 3 pushes and she was done! Will it seemed like forever but it was about 10 minutes
8. Weight? 7 lbs 13 oz, 6 lb 9 oz, 7 lbs 4 oz
9. Length? 20 1/2 inches, 21 and 21
10. Any hair? Lizzie had peach fuzz and a yamaca looking bruise, Abby tons and Will tons
11. Who does baby look like? I never know Abby I think looks like my side of the family but then again she looks like Jer's as well. I guess it just depends on the day.
12. Be honest...how much weight did you gain while pregnant? 35, 23, 30
13. Was baby early or late? Lizzie was 6 days late, Abby 2 weeks early, Will 1 day early (for tax purposes!)
14. Who drove you home from the hospital? Jeremy. I still remember with Lizzie feeling like I should have some sort of parade or something. I honestly remember thinking It's not everyday I give birth!
15. How many baby showers did you have? 2 with Lizzie, 0 with Abby, 1 with Will (Thanks to friends out here in Tooele I would have had no boy clothes without it!)
16. When did baby start sleeping through the night? Lizzie at 4 weeks, Abby at 6 weeks, Will came close last night 10-4
17. Did you breastfeed? Lizzie and Abby for 1 year and Will is acting like he'll never stop!
18. Who takes care of your baby/kids the most? Well I'm a stay at home Mom so it's my job but Jeremy definitely pitches in when he's home.
19. When do you want to have another one? Talk to me in Two years and I might be able to tell you then
20. How did you pick the name(s)? Elizabeth was the only name we could both agree on at the time Jean is my mom's middle name. Lizzie picked Abby, Grace is my Great Grandma's middle name. William David goes a couple of ways My Great Great Grandpa was William. David was his son one of my favorite Grandparents (he was an amazing man!) Jer's dad is David and also an amazing man!
21. How did you know when it was time to go to the hospital? With Lizzie I just couldn't take it any more and figured if I cried enough they'd let me in and the other two we had appointments for
22. Anyone spend the night with you the first night home? Mom did with Lizzie but the other two my Mom kidnapped the siblings instead (I love you Mom!)
23. Did you cry the first time you held your baby? No I think I was just in amazement with Lizzie that all of that had happened. I think it was the same emotion with the other two
24. Where was the baby born? Logan, Logan and Tooele (Logan is still my favorite)
25. Did you video tape the birth? No thanks I guess I'm super private about all of that stuff, I'm not a big fan of watching myself struggle.

New Baby Boy

William was born on Monday December 31, 2007 at 3:00 PM. He weighed in at 7 pounds and 4 ounces and was 21 inches long.

Black Hair

This is pretty much all he does.

This is the widest I've seen his eyes open

happy new year

just for fyi i'm going to be induced in like 7 and 1/2 hours. We're way excited to finally be done and to hold our little one in our arms. we'll post more when we get back from the hospital. Happy New year to you all!

10 days to go

K i just have to do a shout out to something that has helped me through the last stretch of this pregnancy. You know how you can't breathe through your nose when you get so pregnant? Well I had a friend suggest using these and I can finally breathe! I love them even if I look like a dork wearing them (who cares when you can actually breathe) So for all of you pregnant moms or even those of you who are suffering from colds these really do work...So everybody breathe easier.
PS I'm dilated to a 3 now and still 50% effaced but I'm sitting so hopefully I'll be able to make it to the 31st.

Christmas stuff and being prego

Abby puts on "her" ornament (stuffed stars and such)

Lizzie begged everyday to decorate the tree and she's still decorating each day

For some reason in my mind this was the christmas pic I loved watching Jeremy and the girls decide where the perfect place for each ornament was...priceless

K i know this pic's a little blurry but everyone was laughing so hard it still makes me laugh just to see it, that and Lizzie somehow looks as if she has lights connected in her hand

Yes I am that pregnant it looks like i've stuffed a pillow under my shirt but really I'm just pregnant. My girls are happy though and I won't be pregnant forever...I hope anyhow.

I've been a lazy blogger lately maybe that's because i keep hoping to post that I'm not prego any more or maybe it's just me being wrapped up in everything else Christmas around us. Anyhow here are a few pic's from putting up our christmas tree. Honestly we've had a great Christmas season so far I've felt super close to the spirit maybe it's because I feel a little more connected to the nativity scene then ever. It was really interesting I was sitting in Church a few Sundays ago complaining in my brain about all the things we've got to to do right before Christmas such as family Christmas parties, don't get me wrong I love going to them and seeing family and laughing at crazy extended family but I just wasn't too eager to travel all day on the 22nd and be 39 weeks pregnant, then in our Sunday School lesson someone brought up Mary and the struggles she went through as she was expecting her own son. I think it was the part when someone mentioned Mary riding on a Donkey's back for days to Bethlehem for some stupid census that I realized that a 45 minute trek to Ogden on my heated leather seat really wasn't so bad and maybe I should start thinking about the sacrifices others have made so that I could be here right now. Anyhow I've really enjoyed this Christmas season and if for some reason I don't post anything until after the baby gets here (we're scheduled to be induced on the 31st just in case I don't go on my own) Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New year.
ps I'm dilated to a 2 and 50% effaced.

cookies in a snap

so as i approach this due date faster and faster (26 days left!) i have little to no energy for a lot of things it took me 3 days to get decorations up for christmas and i really don't have that much to put up..anyhow i have small amounts of energy and i'm trying really hard to figure out how to best use each small spurt of energy. Today I wanted cookies, no check that i needed cookies and had limited energy to make cookies. luckily i stock up on cake mixes so i found a recipe for cake mix cookies and thought i'd share for other moms who want cookies but not lots of time.

Cake Mix Cookies
1 Cake mix (any kind any flavor)
1 Egg
1/2 C soften butter
Chocolate Chips or whatever little mix-in you'd like
Bake at 350 for 9-12 min

I had cookies to eat in my tummy in under 20 minutes It totally rocked!

Finally Snow

We finally got some good winter snow and Lizzie was so excited to get all of her snow gear on and go play outside (all 1" of it). She didn't last outside for very long but still seeing her pile into her snow pants, coat, gloves, hat but a smile on my face. When she came back in after playing her little pink cheeks were just way too adorable. I love this time of year.

Shopping and Eating what more could you want

I love my sister-in-laws and mother-in-law, we had such a great time braving the insane Black Friday sales together and even went to lunch afterwards. Even though we were all without make-up, sleep and maybe all of our brains we had a rockin' good time. Here's some pic's of us celebrating our victorious day shopping (i got the good majority of my shopping done that day it was awesome!) It was all good after we got back from our Shopping the boys all went out to a movie and dinner. We had such a great time this Thanksgiving we are truly grateful for all of our families.

Day after Thanksgiving we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go back to Jeremy's old stomping grounds for the "Festival of Lights". We rarely get to go back to where Jeremy grew up now that his parents live in North Logan but thought we'd make the trip for it anyhow. After standing around main street for about 10 minutes Lizzie was ready to go. Abby was less than thrilled to be sitting in a stroller in the icy cache valley cold but we persevered and waited through the parade. Lizzie was happy to see Santa Claus at the end of the parade and then we high-tailed it back to our cars and took a quick night tour of preston and even drove by the old Rawlings Farm (once again Lizzie was sad that there weren't any cows although I'm not sure Jeremy really misses them) but it was still nice to get up to Preston to see Jeremy's roots.

We gather together....

A couple of Saturdays ago we had the great opportunity to go to the Manti Temple with my little brother Tyler as he received his endowment in preparation for his mission to Monterrey Mexico. Although this was just my 5th time going to this temple it still feels like home to me. It was so neat to be there with as many of my brothers that could be there.

Sleepy

Going....Going....

.....Gone!

There are these moments as a mom that you can't help but smile. Abby has developed this habit of falling asleep during lunch. It's been so funny as she sleepily tries to find her mouth with a handful of something. It's just made me want to laugh each and every time.

Trick or Treat

I honestly think I'll go insane when I have more kids to get ready for Halloween but Lizzie looked beautiful and Abby was just as cute as well a bug! Thank goodness everyone goes trick or treating at sunset around here or I just wouldn't have had time to do everything. Jeremy was a sweet heart and took the girls out while I attempted to clean-up dinner (seriously we went through over 100 pieces of candy in just about an hour) but the girls came back with some cold hands and a ton of candy (anybody want the banana laffy taffy that we've got left?


Lizzie was a sweet big sister and asked polietly as a princess for a piece of candy for abby.

She's just a cute little bug

She's smiling because she knows what she's getting a motherload of candy. Hooray for Candy!

Menu

I've been a total slacker mom for Halloween. We really didn't decorate the house and I didn't buy either of my girls costumes (princess dress-up and Lizzie's old Lady bug costume). So to make Halloween special I told Lizzie we would be eating special foods that day. We started out the day with Jack 'O Lantern pancakes (pumpkin pancakes with a few Chocolate chips in a smiley face). For Lunch we had Fish Blood Soup and Ooey Gooey sandwiches (tomato soup with gold fish crackers and grilled cheese soup) then to top the night off we had smashed brains with eyeballs and dried finger bones ( spaghetti with meatballs and breadsticks). It was so much fun every person Lizzie talked to she had to tell how crazy her mom was and the "gross" things she was going to have to eat. I'll tell you what though although Lizzie thought they sounded gross she has never eaten better even taking seconds ( a big deal) on smashed brains!
besides the usual halloween pumpkins i added a new addition to our porch they're called spirit jugs. just recycled milk jugs with christmas lights in them. they turned out super cute and didn't cost me a dime!

Abby seems to like the pancakes

O they'll be swimming with the fishes tonight in my belly!

The breadsticks could have turned out cuter if I would have had sliced almonds for finger nails
I made like 6 of these they really help light up our porch next year I think i'll try the orange lights just to see how they'd look.

carving pumpkins

Reach your hand in for a big surprise!

Yuck that's a terrible surprise

All of us cleaning the pumpkins

What's in there?

Final product now lets go to bed!

Mom Test

Ok so I don't forward emails just on pure principle but a friend sent this and I've got to share so I'll do it on our blog
Mom Test
> >
> > I was out walking with my 4 year old daughter. She picked up something off
> > the ground and started to put it in her mouth. I took the item away from
> > her
> > and I asked her not to do that.
> >
> > "Why?" my daughter asked.
> >
> > "Because it's been on the ground, you don't know where it's been, it's
> > dirty, and probably has germs," I replied.
> >
> > At this point, my daughter looked at me with total admiration and asked,
> > "Momma, how do you know all this stuff, you are so smart."
> >
> > I was thinking quickly.
> >
> > "All moms know this stuff. It's on the Mom Test. You have to know it, or
> > they don't let you be a Mom."
> >
> > We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but she was evidently
> > pondering this new information.
> >
> > "OH...I get it!" she beamed, "So if you don't pass the test you have to be
> > the dad."
> >
> > ''Exactly," I replied back with a big smile on my face.

Just kidding Dad's you know we love you!

Pumpkin Patch

We had a great time monday night at the pumpkin patch here in Tooele. Lizzie has been so excited about Halloween every time we go to any store Lizzie begs and pleads to see the Halloween stuff every house we drive by with Halloween decorations she lets out a little shriek and unfortunately I've been a slacker mom and don't have any fall decorations up whatsoever so we finally decided to get something Halloweenish. It was so cute to watch the kids (and Jeremy) run from Pumpkin to pumpkin trying to properly evaluate it's correct Jack-O-Lantern value. Really the only property that Lizzie was sure she knew a pumpkin needed is for it to be HUGE. It was great fun to watch Abby try to keep up but she was constantly sidetracked as she tackled every Pumpkin in her sight. When she was done tackling a pumpkin she usually tripped over the vines that were everywhere but just kept plugging along. Lizzie was kind enough to take Abby by the hand to try to show her a pumpkin that had to be smaller than her own but still had Abby test out the pumpkin usually by sitting and giving a couple of bounces on the pumpkin. After our pumpkins were selected we waited for the tractor to come by and pick us up unfortunately the tractor somehow missed us so we decided to hoof it back to the gate. Lizzie and Jeremy took 2 of the pumpkins and started walking. Abby and I took the other pumpkin and slowly but surely started to make our trek back. Jeremy and Lizzie were almost to the gate when the tractor stopped and picked up me and Abby. Jeremy and Lizzie were about 2 yards from the gate when the tractor man asked if they wanted a ride and Jeremy declined. Lizzie then yelled as we passed " I wanted a ride Dad" well this Grandpa inclined tractor driver went over to Lizzie and Jeremy after the tractor was unloaded and asked her if she wanted a ride. Jeremy took Lizzie and Abby while I waited in line to pay for our pumpkin prizes. Lizzie was so excited as the tractor took a tour of the entire pumpkin patch. Oh wonderful it is to see things through the eyes of a child and how magical and wonderful everything can seem. All in all a wonderful time and I think a new Rawlings Family tradition.
I'm afraid Abby will always have somebody holding her in a picture she just can't sit still for long
Notice Abby in the background tackling yet another pumpkin.
Hooray for tractors and Grandpa Inclined people who want little girls to be happy.