20 June 2008

Do you remember...


...Wax Candy Bottles????

For the record these "candies" are really gross, but I couldn't help but feel a little nostalgia when I spotted these little gems in the grocery store the other day. I don't think my parents ever bought these for us. I used to get them when we visited my grandpa in Rexburg. He lived close to a little gas station and my cousins or sisters and brother would walk there and pick our own treats to purchase.

I had to share this strange "candy" with the kids just once. Needless to say it was a hit, just like me they couldn't decide what was more fun - the drink inside or the wax bottle.... It seems like they came in several shapes, but this is the one that we would get most often.




Did you ever have these "candies" as a kid????

15 June 2008

Whew!



The first two weeks went pretty well...lots of sleeping, eating, and (ahem) pooping. The last three days have been much worse. Lots of fussing and the only sleeping is during the day. I am pretty sure I am being hazed by my baby! I know it will pass, but in the mean time I am not my best self and poor Erika, Carson, and Dan are the lucky recipient of my ever-changing mood. I was hoping that Dan would have a few easy weeks following Cal's arrival, but he has been working 'til the wee sma's again 2,3,4am. I knew it would be like this sometimes, but when the reality sets in...sigh...it is hard to stay positive. I have so much I need to do and by the time he is resting, I am too tired and unmotivated to get going! It made me wonder why we're debating what is torture for political prisoners, and what constitutes cruel and unusual punishment....if they really wanted to make someone suffer they only need to give them a baby with colic to care for! After a few weeks you're crazy!

07 June 2008

Third time's a Charm!

Most of you have heard the horror story about Carson's birth. Cal's story is so different! To try and prevent a "speedy" arrival and to control the risk of hemorrhage I was induced.

(On our way to the hospital)

It began as a LONG day and I was starting to worry it would end in a C-section, but in the end it was FAST! In the end I went from a "3" to delivery in about 45 minutes - WHEW! It must have been the fact that after the Dr. checked me for the last time and said I was still a "3" Dan decided it was time to go and grab some dinner. About a 1/2hr later the Dr. checked again and Cal was on his way... Where was Dad? The Dr. asked if we could call him on his cell phone. "Of course, he has his blackberry with him," I replied. He starts to laugh and said, "This blackberry?" Ahhhhhhhh! I joked, "If he doesn't make it for the delivery do I deserve a new pair of shoes?" He replied, "You're in Greenwich, that deserves diamonds!" Luckily, they made a hospital page and he showed up with 5 minutes to spare. Literally, Cal was born 5 minutes later...and other than having a mighty sore heiny I am feeling pretty good. I have decided that I need to have Dad take a few pics of me with Cal (Oops!)



Here he is in all his glory. He had the cord wrapped around his neck 2X's and so his face was really swollen when he was born. We both agreed he looked like a little old man for the first night until the swelling went down. So sweet!



Dad and Callum right after he was born. It was hard to believe that we were now the parents of 3! We had put off the reality of this day and it was strange to be finally be meeting "Crackers".



Of course, Erika and Cal hit it off immediately. She is so good with him - even if she is a little eager to "prove" herself as a competent older sibling. Read: She wants to pick him up and play with him all the time.






The kiddies with their new little brother. We had finally come up with a name...Callum James Feldman or "Cal" for short. Carson couldn't remember his name and kept calling him "Crackers". After gently reminding him that his name was "Callum or Cal" not "Crackers" anymore he replied, "Well, we need to change his name 'cause I just can't remember that!"



Two days before I had Cal, Carson got sick. High fever that went away, but he ended up with a cough and stuffy nose. We limited his exposure to Cal at the hospital and finally on Sunday he was able to really snuggle up with his new little brother. He was so excited to finally be able to hold him. He was thrilled!



Grandma and Grandpa Feldman spent the week with us. It was so fun to have them here with us. Grandma helped with Cal and kept the ever-mounting piles of laundry done. Grandpa Ed and Dan got busy and worked on a few house projects during the week as well. They installed all new windows in the basement! What a huge project to have done and out of the way...it will definitely help with the heating and cooling bills this year, too. THANK YOU!!!!! What a great week that went altogether too fast! We miss you already. I am not sure how I'll survive without your extra hands this week.



And here is Cal. I would love to have a little better shot of his face, but he loves his little hands. Even in the ultrasound pics he had his hands up in front of his mouth. He is sweet as can be and has very blue eyes. This is normal for most babies, but both Carson and Erika had black eyes at birth. They were never blue. Carson's have stayed almost black, and Erika has brown eyes now. At least I have one baby with blue eyes for now. His hair is so cute with at least 4 cowlicks in the back that force his hair into a little mohawk.

It is amazing to have a little newborn in our home again. He is so sweet it almost makes me want another one....(I said ALMOST). He is not really on a schedule yet, but he sleeps and eats and does very little crying yet. We all adore this little guy.

31 May 2008

Baby #3...



Callum James Feldman

May 29, 2008

7lbs. 8 oz.

20 1/4"


Everyone is OK so far...we'll update later!

28 May 2008

Tomorrow's the Day!



We'll keep you posted.....

25 May 2008

Keeping a promise

Well, I told you we have been doing a little work around the house and that I would blog about it. We finally tackled a little work outside (we're on sabbatical from inside work). We wanted a yard for the kids to play in and this house had a good sized yard for NY. Unfortunately it looked like a jungle or rainforest when we moved in. With plenty to do to the house itself we have turned a blind eye to the outside for the past two years. OK, last year we ripped out about 8 very large "wild" trees, but that is where it ended. With baby 3 due any day I knew that we needed to get a yard for the big kids ASAP. We didn't do any landscaping in the back this year, but we did manage to rip out the jungle and seed the back lawn! Here are the pics of the process...

What the yard looked like before we began:





Day One: The bulldozer moves in and makes short work of the debris, weeds, and sucker trees in the way. After they cleared it out they carted in 30 yards of new topsoil and planted the seed. The waiting began....




Just over a week later the seeds sprouted and we could see what would soon be our lawn. It was amazing that we didn't get any weeds...we figured they would show up soon.




These last pics were a little over 2 weeks after they planted the grass. It looks amazing! Still no weeds (cross your fingers).



It is even thicker and greener now and tomorrow we are going to give it it's first "haircut". We have never seen seed come in so thick and lush. It really is almost like sod. We still have no weeds and when the kids are out of school at the end of June we will have a great back lawn to play on. Next year we may tackle the actual "landscaping", but for now we are just happy to have real grass. Yay!

22 May 2008

Where oh where...

...have we been??? Well, I have not spent any of the past 6 weeks here....



...because I haven't had any trouble from these....





...and I still don't have one of these...



But, we have had several visits from family including Aunt Gwen and Uncle Lee. And these guys....



We loved having the Dustins visit for a week even if the weather was cold! We also had a nice long visit with these guys....



the "other" Feldman family was out in NY for a long stay and we have loved having them over. Carson will really miss having Jackson back in UT. We've also spent time with the kids and their activities. Carson started kickball - a precursor to T-ball.



Erika has been busy at school performing in her 4th grade strings concert (violin) and also putting on a "Circus" with the rest of the 4th graders at her school. She was highly trained in Feather balancing (shown) as well as rope twirling.



She also had a "Fashion Show" for a sewing class she has been in. She is modeling the skirt she made for class. (Note: I did NOT pick the fabric for this one...she loved the "Asian" fabric ; )



Dan has been very busy here...



...I have been busy with everything above, as well as a lot of this...



Besides all this fun stuff we have been busy maintaining and "improving" this little cottage we call home. (I'll post those later.......I swear!) So, I am trying to get back to doing a little bit of blogging before we do have baby 3! That won't be long by the way...May 29th is the day if we haven't had him by then. So for better or worse, I'm back...at least until Thursday. (Maybe Dan will post for me while he is on paternity leave...hmmmmm)