Welcome to the World Kathleen

Kathleen Michelle Ladwig

August 17, 2011

6lb 9oz

19 1/2 inches

We are happy to welcome to the world and our family our little Kathleen. If you don't like birthing stories, then fair warning, you can skip the narration on this post and just look at the cute pictures of our new baby.

Because we don't have any family in Tooele and don't really know any babysitters, we decided to schedule an induction to give Grandma Kitty a day to shoot for to come to Tooele. When I went into my last doctor's appointment I talked it over with my doctor, Dr. Vered, and he said that I was favorable enough to schedule it for early that next week. Landon and I had previously talked it over and neither of us were against having the baby on my birthday, so I decided to give myself a birthday present and set the induction for my birthday August 17.

Grandma Kitty came in on Tuesday night and we made sure all of the last minute things were taken care of. We arrived at the hospital a little after 6 a.m. on Wednesday morning. We got ourselves checked in and me all hooked up to the monitors and an IV started. Dr. Vered got to the hospital right about the time we were ready to start pitocin and suggested that maybe we just break my water first and see if that would start anything. So, at about 7:15 a.m. we broke my water. I was dilated to a 2 and about 60% effaced.

Landon and I spent the next hour walking around the hospital trying to get things going. While it was unsuccessful it was good time to just spend with my husband and we got to take a pretty good look at the hospital here in Tooele including all of the cool old pictures they have on the walls. They are of the Tooele area, most of them dating back in the late 1800s to early 1900s. After an hour and no real movement to speak of I decided to ask them to just start the drugs.

So, at about 8:30 a.m. I was hooked up to the Pitocin and for the next hour my dosage was increased every 15 minutes. I took this time to take a nap, knowing that at some point during the day I would want my strength to handle the more intense contractions. At about 9:15 a.m. I still wasn't too happy with where the strength of the contractions, so I asked if I could use the birthing ball.

The next hour was spent alternating between the birthing ball and my bed. They couldn't get the monitors to work right on my belly to make sure baby was doing okay when I was on the ball, so they would let me spend about 20 minutes on the ball and then I had to get back in bed for about 20 minutes. By about 10:15 the contractions were getting more intense, but still manageable but we decided to do a check to see where I was at. I was dilated to about a 4.

My nurse knew I wanted an epidural, so she suggested that I might want to start considering it. I, on the other hand, wanted to wait until I was dilated to about a 6 before I got my epidural. The nurse warned me that the last few numbers can go really fast, but I blew her off. I mean, I had done this three times before and my fastest birth to this point had been 8 hours. I thought I had a couple more hours to go until I got to my 6.

I got back on the ball at about 10:45 a.m. Once I was on the ball the contraction intensity really started to pick back up. I was only supposed to be on the ball for about 15 minutes so I decided that I would wait the 15 minutes and when the nurse came back in ask her to get my epidural coming. By the time she came back at 11:00 a.m. the contractions were getting really intense and were taking a lot of breathing to get through.

My nurse helped me get to the bathroom and then left to get the anesthetist coming with my epidural. By the time she got back I had decided that I was done on the potty and was frustrated because it had been a personal goal of mine not to poop on the table with this delivery, but I just couldn't seem to go even though I had a lot of pressure. While I was frustrated about that, I also knew that if I couldn't poop and I had a lot of bum pressure that was not a good thing for my epidural. When the nurse came back I told her my predicament, and she asked me about the pressure. After giving me a little bit of a worried look I told her, "I know!" and we checked me. My contractions were extremely uncomfortable at this point, in fact I couldn't even make it from the bathroom to my bed without having one that I had to stop and breathe through. She checked me at 11:15 a.m. and I was dilated to an 8.

My nurse went into overdrive at this point. She pushed the nurses button and told them that they needed to call Dr. Vered and tell him to come now! She then had me sit up and get on the edge of the bed preparing for my epidural. Then she left and went into the hall to find him and hurry him in. My contractions were coming about every 30-45 seconds now and really, really hurt. Landon was a good support and did whatever I asked him to. I found I liked it best if he would hold my shoulders and put pressure pulling me into him.

My nurse was only gone for about a minute and she returned with the anesthetist and my epidural. She quickly informed the man that I was already at an 8 and we needed to hurry. My anesthetist was awesome!!!! Landon said he was extremely impressed. He has watched me get all four of my epidurals, and this guy kicked every other ones behinds. He was fast and accurate. I have to say I love this man. Since I was so far along and he could tell I was hurting (you know the grunting and breathing and a few swear words tipped him off) he decided to give me a spinal block first and then he would do the epidural.

I felt the effects of the spinal almost immediately and it took the pressure off my behind and back, but my uterus was still feeling it all. As I was still getting the catheter in my back for the epidural I had the most intense and painful contraction I have ever felt. (Now mind you, I have usually had my epidural long before my body ever gets to this point. So, woman who do this naturally, I do not think it was any worse than anything that you have gone through, I just have never done it naturally, so it was a shocker to me.) I embarrassed myself by full blown screaming through this one and yes, there were a few more swear words coming out. It was intense and it lasted long and all I wanted to do was lay down but I couldn't because I was currently having something shoved into my spine. During this one my nurse hit the nurses button again and the nurses at the station were greeted with my screaming. They didn't even wait to hear what was wanted, she just started running down the hall. My nurse still had not had a chance to get things set up for the baby so she needed help so that baby girl had everything she needed once she got there.

The anesthetist finished quickly and I was finally able to lay down with the contraction still hurting and going. My nurse checked me and I was at a 10 and fully effaced. It was 11:30 a.m. Just then my doctor walked in all sweaty and out of breathe. He had gotten stuck at a red light and had ran from him car in. At about that same time the spinal block finished kicking in and I was finally getting some relief on my uterus, or at least from feeling my uterus. The anesthetist and my doctor quickly joked about how the anesthetist thought he might have to catch this baby as my doctor quickly put on his stuff. My nurse was busy trying to get my bed and me ready to deliver baby. She had to enlist the help of Landon to move me down the bed and get my legs in the stirrups because I had absolutely no feeling in them.

Dr. Vered, finally set up, told me to give a little push and there was my baby's head. He had me reach down and touch it. (I have never done this before and it was kind of cool and made me just want to get the rest of her out as quickly as possible.) I gave another little push and she slowly worked her top half out. Dr. Vered then said to me "Mommy, she's reaching for you." I reached down to grab her hands and he told me to grab her behind her arms and had me pull her the rest of the way out and onto my stomach. I loved it!!! It was 11:46 a.m.

She was beautiful and sweet, and purple, and I could not get enough of her. I instantly told her "Hello Kathleen" and helped wipe her off on my tummy and then Landon cut the umbilical cord. They whisked her over to her little station and started checking her out. That is when Landon and I finally realized that there was no one else there with us to take pictures and Landon began scrambling to find the camera and start snapping. (We really had not even had time to think about getting it out until just now.)

Kat really was not all that happy with being out and in the world. She especially didn't like being poked and prodded and moved at all. She would get herself calmed down and then they would need to move her to check something else out and she would scream her protest. It was a very cute little girly scream.

I was tired, but happy to have her here and loving that I finally had some pain relief. I normally love the feeling when they afterbirth is delivered, but since my spinal block was still working really, really well I actually couldn't feel it this time. (By the way, they hooked up my epidural, but never even started it.)




After doing all the tests and checking her all out they asked if I wanted to nurse her first or have them give her a bath. I had started shaking pretty badly at this point, so I told them to bathe her while I tried to get a little more control over my body. The shakes were a first for me. I have never had them after any of my kids. The nurse told me it is common with the medication that I had this time.

Kathleen felt a little better once she had her nice warm clothes on, but she still was a little fussy and seemed to be pretty darn hungry. So, we nursed just about 20 minutes after she was born, and she was a pro from the beginning. She really must have been starving, because she chowed down and then was much happier after she finished.

After eating, Daddy finally had a chance to hold his little girl. I love the way that Landon looks at his children when he first gets to hold them. You can see it in his face just how much he loves them. It was no different for Kathleen. He loved you instantly!

While Kat got her bath Landon called Grandma Kitty to tell her that she was here. Grandma had just taken the kids to McDonalds, but she cut the trip a little short and brought down the big sister and brothers to see us.

You could hear them coming down the hall and I was very excited to see my kiddos. Landon was sitting in a chair across the room from the door and Levi was the first one to see them. Levi looked at Kathleen and his eyes got all big and he did a little excited jump before running over to get a better look.

Ellen got to hold her first....

Then Trevor...

And finally Levi. After holding her for just a second Levi looked up at Landon and told him, "I don't like it."

Grandma Kitty was last to get a turn. Here they are, the oldest Kathleen with the youngest Kathleen. I have always said that if I ever got to name a daughter Kathleen I would call her Kat. It has been a little joke as to what my mom and daughter would then be when they were together. So, here they are for the first time, Kitty-Kat.

Landon decided to line them all up and get the first picture of our four children. Wow!!!

You have to love that face on this girl!

I was starving having not eaten anything since dinner the night before. (This was also part of my plan to try not to throw up during the delivery. It worked, I was nausea free this delivery.) I also still had the shakes and chills in this picture so I was trying to find the best way to eat and still keep myself as covered up as I could.

After the kids left we all settled in for a nap. I was able to snuggle Kat in under my blankets and we slept chest to chest for a little while. Landon snapped this before he passed out on the couch/bed they had in the room.

Right after Kat was born the nurses asked me what we were naming her. I told them Kathleen and made the comment that she and I were sharing names and birthdays. My nurse had not realized that it was my birthday until then and very really bad. So, they went out and bought me a cake.

We had a hard time getting a good picture of me with the cake. I blame it on the fact that I had just had a baby a couple of hours previous.

Ellen had also come up with a plan that she had Grandma help her pull off. For a birthday present for me she wanted to make me cupcakes. So, later in the afternoon/evening they brought me in my cupcakes. The kids spread them all over my hospital room floor, but I didn't care. They were so excited to give them to me, and then eat them. Watching them so happy and excited was the best birthday present I could have asked for from them.

When they came back I was finally feeling better, although I still didn't have any feeling back in my legs yet. (I didn't get feeling back until about 5:30 p.m. that night.) I decided that we needed to get the first three generation picture.

The three generations of Kathleen. Kathleen Hill Kunz, Kathleen Kunz Ladwig and Kathleen Michelle Ladwig.

Levi also decided that he wanted to hold her again when they came back. This was in part due to his older siblings getting to take a second turn. His reaction was much different the second time around. We asked him if he liked her and he replied, "I like it!" He referred to Kat as an it for about 2 days. He really did like holding "it" the second time around and was sad when his turn was over.

Our hospital, Mountain West, has a practice of giving new parents a special dinner the night a baby is born. You can choose between Steak, Chicken Cordon Bleu, or Fried Shrimp. (Nice, eh!) We both choose Steak and ordered it around 6:15 p.m. By 7:00 we still hadn't seen our food and I was getting hungry again so I had Landon start calling to see if it was still coming. The next 45 minutes were spent with the nurses staff and the dietary staff trying to figure out what happened to our order. By the time they figured out that they had not made our food it was too late to cook it so they had us order something different. We finally got our dinner at about 8:30 p.m. that night. While it wasn't our "special dinner" it was still good food. Because of the screw up the dietary staff gave us a $10 gift card to Applebees. The nursing staff felt bad that they dietary crew had screwed up so they too gave us a $10 gift card to Applebees and a $5 gift card to ColdStone. The staff brought us our special dinner for lunch the next day. The head of the dietary department also stopped by the next morning to apologize personally and find out the details of what happened from our side of the story. She also gave us a Willow Tree figurine called "Guardian" of a Mama with a new born baby wrapped in her arms. We totally scored!!!!

Landon stayed with Kat and I at the hospital until around 10:30 p.m. that night. I spent about another hour with Kat and then nursed her and took her down to the nursery where they said they would "love on her" that night. My nurses were sooooo nice and let me sleep the whole night without coming in to check on my vitals. They did have to come in at about 5 a.m. and take my blood, but then I went back to sleep until my doctor showed up at 7. I called down and had them bring Kathleen back to me and we waited for Daddy to come pick us up. We were finally able to discharge at about 1:30 p.m. and went home to start our new family life with a 4th child.

We are so excited that you are finally here Kathleen and feel very priviledged that you chose our family. We love you and can't wait to get to know you better!

A Reunion & Return to Pocatello

The middle of August brought a quick trip for me to August. Now, if you keep up on events you will know that in the middle of August I was very much heavy with child. Yes, I decided to pack up my three kids, hook on my trailer, and drive myself to Pocatello for the Hill Family Reunion 6 days before I was due. Kind of crazy I know, but I was really missing my sister plus she had some free beds for us that just needed to be picked up. (Ellen has been sleeping on her mattress on the floor since about March when we took her bed to put the boys in bunk beds.)


The preparation for the trip actually went fairly smoothly. Of course I didn't get all of the cleaning done I had wanted to before I left, but when do you really ever get that stuff done. I was able to hook on our trailer without any really big difficulty and we left around 2:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon.


All was going well on the trip for about the first 15 minutes, that is until the tailgate for my trailer flew off while I was going 75 mph on the freeway between Tooele and Salt Lake. (Apparently the pins had not gotten put in, so it was just kind of hanging on to the back of the trailer.) Luckily no one was behind me and the gate landed right in between the lanes on the road. While watching it bounce and fly out was exciting enough, then the realization hit me that there was no one else to walk back the 150 yards to get the tailgate and drag it back to our trailer but me.


So, down the side of the freeway I ran (well, more like tried to run...I was 9 months pregnant) to try to get to the gate before any more damage happened to it or the car. I had to make a made dash to the middle of the freeway to pick the thing up and try to haul its some odd 50 or 60 pounds to the side of the road before anymore big semi's came roaring down the road and hit me. Next came the 150 yard trek back to the van and trailer. I admit, I had to stop several times and even felt a little like crying, but I made it back. I decided that I didn't want to have to repeat this whole scene again somewhere between Salt Lake City and Pocatello, so I decided to put the tailgate in the back of the van. So, again I hefted the heavy gate up and threw it in the back of my van. Got back in the van, back on the freeway, and promptly called Landon to warn him that if I called back in the next 45 minutes and was in labor, we would know why.


After about another hour on the road I was starting to feel pretty good and my body was not hurting anymore. I was feeling really good about the trip when suddenly the traffic on the road came to an abrupt halt just outside of Malad. I figured it was a wreck or construction but that we would get going again without too much hassle. Once again, how naive I am. Our fate was not to be sooo easy. It took us 45 minutes to go just over a mile to the Preston exit where they made everyone get off of the freeway and take a detour. Mind you, this was not a short detour, but a very long detour that took us on a long and winding road through the mountains to visit all of the little back towns in Southeast Idaho until we could finally get back on the freeway again at Downey. (If you are not familiar with SE Idaho just know that this added about another hour and a half onto my trip, not to mention a lot of miles.)


About half way through this detour Ellen informed me that she had to go to the bathroom. I told her that the first gas station we came across we would stop. We went about another 15 minutes with still no gas station in sight and I started contemplating stopping on the side of the road to let her pee but decided against it since there was no good place to pull over and there was a stream of cars behind us that would have gotten a nice flash of Ellen going pee with her 9 month pregnant mama helping her crouch on the side of the road since there wasn't really any cover anywhere either. Another 15 minutes went by when Ellen informed me that not only did she have to go pee, but she also needed to poop. Now, we could not stop on the side of the road because I had nothing to wipe her with. We drove on, still no gas station in any of the small towns we drove by and after about another 15 minutes Trevor has begun dancing in his seat and tells me he has to go pee. It was still about another 15 minutes before we got to Downey and finally found a gas station. We had to wait about 5 minutes to cross the road to the gas station since the traffic to the freeway was backed up going the other direction, detoured just like us. I have to say I am sooo proud of my kiddos. Both of them held it and did so without too much whining.

After getting back on the road at Downey we were home free the rest of the way to Pocatello. We were able to get to Pocatello by 7 p.m. That's right, a drive that should have been 3 hours took us 5. We all survived, and our van worked properly, so really I guess I shouldn't be complaining.

We were greeted in Pocatello by a very happy Aunt Annie who had pizza and corn on the cob waiting for us, which was good because we were starving. (I hadn't really planned on being on the road that long so I didn't pack a whole ton of snacks.) We spent a couple of hours chatting before Annie and Jason had to hurry off to the store to get some things for Jaycee's upcoming birthday that weekend. I stayed behind with my kids and Jaycee and just let them play. My boys of course wanted to play with the trains and the girls went upstairs to practice out outfits for Jaycee's party, hula theme. The girls decided that they wanted to get the boys in on the fun as well. Trevor would have no part of it, but my Levi was more than happy to oblige. They dressed him in a hula skirt and Jaycee even made him a fire stick that he was to wave around.

That night, all four of the big kids slept in the basement bedroom. It was really fun to see them getting to spend time with their cousin again. Jaycee has always been one of the favorite cousins at my house.

In the morning there was more playing with the trains and a yummy breakfast thanks to Uncle Jason.

There was also some really good time to get to snuggle with Eve and reacquaint ourselves with each other.

There was also plenty of time for packing up our things as well as getting the rest of the baby things from Annie that we would need to welcome our new little one: the bassinet, baby girl clothes. Jason was also able to fix my bent and beat up trailer tailgate as well as load me down with a set of bunk beds and a twin bed with mattresses thanks to Annie's boss, Dr. Huneycutt, all for free.

Some last minute pictures were taken to remember the stay...

Aunt Katie and Eve

The Dixon Sisters

The three Kunz grand-daughters. The last time there would only be the three of them.

This picture was being set up by Jaycee who was getting a little frustrated because my boys were not the best cooperators. They kept getting distracted, go figure.

Then, we were off to the park for the Hill Family Reunion. It was really good to get to see so many of my cousins and catch up on their lives. All of my Aunt and Uncles were also there so I was able to get an update on how everyone was doing as well as give my grandparents hugs. My kids also had a lot of fun playing with their second cousins. It was fun for me to see them playing and remember doing the same thing at the Eschler family reunion. I was sad that none of my siblings were able to make it, except Annie for a very short stop by, but the time spent was well worth it.

We were back on the road by late afternoon, after having Landon check to make sure that the freeway was open, and prayed that our return visit would not be as strenuous on my nerves and patience. The return trip was fine and we were all very excited to see Daddy when we got home who had dinner waiting for us.

That night Landon was able to set up Ellen's newly acquired bed. She spent the next day and a half telling her Daddy thank you for her bed and saying how much she liked it. It was a successful and enjoyable trip that I am glad I made. Even if it was soo close to my due date.

Some Firsts

We had a couple of firsts for Ellen and Levi the last couple of weeks.

First off was a first for Levi....

My kids have never been very good at riding bikes. Ellen at 6 still can't ride a two-wheeler. Trevor just learned to peddle a big wheel and steer this summer. So imagine my surprise when Levi started peddling around his tricycle. This kid has always loved his bike and even last summer spent hours walking himself up and down the side walk on this thing. Riding bikes is a big thing for our neighborhood and I think the extra time outside helped him to figure it out. He isn't a pro at it quite yet and I still find him walking himself around on it, but if he gets on level ground he can peddle himself around. What a big boy!

Ellen also had a first....

She has her first loose tooth! Well, the tooth wasn't all that loose, but the permanent tooth is coming in behind it. One night I was using my teeth to tighten something and chipped a little piece of one of my bottom teeth. (I know, I know, I shouldn't be using my teeth.) Well, Ellen wanted to see my tooth. I showed her, although you couldn't see the chip and then I said let me see your teeth. She opens up and low and behold sitting behind her baby teeth is a permanent tooth with a really, really good start on coming in. Like, the top fourth of the tooth was in. I was totally shocked, and kind of bummed because the tooth is pretty far back in her mouth. I called for Landon to show him. We started talking with Ella about working on her tooth to see if we could get it loose and I made an appointment with the dentist. (She still hasn't gone to see him yet. I will post on that experience when it happens.) Here's to hoping that we can get that tooth out and that she won't need braces.

Ellen's Swim Lessons

We were lucky enough to get Ellen signed up for swim lessons this year. Actually, I had Trevor signed up to, but the only class they had available for him was a Parent/Child class. Landon took him the first day and we decided it was better suited for someone Levi's age, so we pulled him out.

Ellen on the other hand was soooo excited for her lessons this year. Ella likes doing her activities, but really I have never seen her get as excited about anything else as she does about swim lessons. We put her in Level 1 again because we weren't sure where she would match up between the different swim complexes in Pocatello and here. It was a perfect fit for her.

Her lessons were 45 minutes long, so most days the boys and I just waited for her. The Aquatics Complex here in Tooele is actually really, really nice. They have two different pools and supposedly Tooele has a great swim team. They have meets here regularly, so there is a viewing area above the pools. That is where the boys and I would hang.

The pictures are from far away so they are hard to see, but it was the best I could do. Ellen ended up being the only girl in her class. She didn't mind that. Ellen is usually a baby about getting her head in the water. She usually plugs her nose in the shower because she is afraid that she will get water up her nose. So I was completely impressed that on her first day of class she was dunking her face in the water and opening her eyes to look around no problem.

In fact, her favorite thing to practice was underwater swimming. In this picture she is the one face down practicing swimming on her own. She can do about 5 or 6 strokes all by herself.

Another totally fun part about our swim complex is the slide. That's right, we have an indoor waterslide and current river that the kids can play on. Kids of any age can go down our waterslide as long as they have a parent. Ellen was just barely tall enough to go down by herself. Normally at the end of their swim lessons they would give them about 10 minutes to play in the water and practice. They usually didn't turn on the slide, but on the last day of the week for the two weeks she had lessons they would turn on the slide so that the kids could go down.

We went swimming as a family the week before she started lessons and Landon and I could barely talk her into going down the slide with he or me then, but when it came to going on the slide at lessons she could not wait! She loved it and did it over and over again as many times as she could during free time.

At the end of her two weeks she was given a certificate telling all the things that she can now do and a sucker.

The pool is taking a month long break before they start fall lessons, but we have already signed up all three kids for the next session. Ellen will move on to level 2, Trevor will be in a preschool class, and Landon and I get to battle it out over who gets to do the parent/child class with Levi. We are excited to have this aquatic complex at our disposal (and it is cheap, by the way). We are hoping that swimming can become a big part of our family. Yipee for swim lessons!

Getting Prepared

One bath sponge purchased. (Which might I add are hard to find now a days. Everyone sells those bath slings, which I don't like.)

Blankets made....

This one by Aunt Lindsay...


This one by cousin Sharon...


This one by Mommy's friend Jenny Pickering

This one by Mommy...

This one was purchased, but the crocheted edges were done by Grandma Kitty.

Burp clothes bought by Aunt Renee...

Dresser purchased and filled with clothes. Changing table set up...

Bring you home from the hospital outfit picked out...

Hair bows and Binky clips made....

Now all we need is for you to join us. So, whenever you're ready little girl we are prepared and anxiously waiting for you!

Battle of the Earwigs

They lurk in dark places. Hide in corners and crevices and clothing. And are completely disgusting. And we are infested with them......Earwigs!

I know that earwigs are not necessarily a bad insect to be infested with. I mean, they really don't do any damage. (They don't actually climb in your ear and lay baby eggs.) But they are super gross and totally annoying, and hard to get rid of.

We have them lurking everywhere in our house. I will go to pick up my dish rag and five will fall out. Our curtains have uncountable hanging out in the folds. I opened up my sewing bag to find at least 7 or 8 running around inside. Every morning we have to wash them down the tub, and I cannot even begin to tell you how many I have found either in my laundry as I sort it or in the dryer vent that I didn't catch before it got washed. And those are just the ones that are hiding, there are plenty that just find their way crawling across my counter or floor.

After the sewing bag experience I finally got fed up with it and the lack of progress we seemed to be making with the bug spray and got online to do a little research. Turns out that the most effective thing for Earwigs is Boric Acid and powder bug repellents. (They need to crawl through it to really kill them.) So, we placed this around the foundation of our home. But, what to do for the inside. I can't put bug poison along the baseboards of my home with little children in the house. I found the perfect solution online. Vinegar.

That's right, simple vinegar. I put it in a spray bottle and it has become one of my best friends. Every couple of days I will spray my windows and doors and baseboards and it actually works. It kills the little suckers and pretty quickly. And best of all, it is totally harmless to my little family. I was able to spray down the kids toys with it so that we could stop having unexpected guests and screaming while playing, and "ta-da" no more problems. The only down side, the smell. Vinegar is not the best smelling stuff, I know, but that is a small price to pay to stop finding earwigs on your kitchen counter.

So, we are not earwig free yet, but we have started to begin to win some battles. The war continues, but armed with my handy powder and vinegar I hope to conquer one day. If you have any other ingenious ways to get rid of the pesty little slugs please share the wisdom.

We shall prevail!

Tender Moment

This has actually become a fairly common thing to see. Levi usually initiates it. He loves to hold hands and will find one or both of his siblings to hold hands with as we walk, really anywhere. A a very tender moment for this mama.

MLL & GJE Reunion

This year the MLL & GJE Reunions were at the usual Harding Haven at Bear Lake. We love this place. It is the only place that Landon has consistently gone back to his entire life. Really it is the closest place he has to "going home." Unfortunately, he was not able to really be there with us at all. (If you don't know why, see previous post.)

The kids and I went up on Wednesday evening and stayed through Sunday night. There was lots of soaking in the sun and playing on the beach, which was only about 15 yards from the cabin, and lots and lots of playing with cousins.



Pretty much the entire reunion was spent lounging on the beach and playing in the sand and water. This is one of my favorite pictures. Grandma Ladwig bought a relaxation station that floated in the water. The first time it went out Levi relaxed in his pirate boat in the middle as all the other kids sat around him.

What a doll baby this little girl is. Adasyn, we love you!

I have to admit that I would not have been able to do this week without a lot of help from the family. Uncle Steven was so great to play in the water with my kids (he has Adasyn and Ellen in this picture), Grandma, Aunt Renee, and Aunt Audra were quick to jump in to help watch when I needed to take a step away. Marrying Landon was a fabulous idea! I love his family!

Cousin Rachel's jet skis were the big hit on Thursday. Levi did get to go for a little ride, but he was just as happy sitting on the "motor boat."

Poor little Adasyn got a bee sting on her face. A hornet attacked her and stung her about 4 times before we got it off of her. Her poor little face was so swollen she hardly looked like herself. She got drugged up and did fairly well with it. Although, she did get nervous of any flying bug, even cotton in the air.

Along with beach time there was plenty of time to play games with the cousins. Ellen's favorite was Crazy 8's with her second cousin Sammy.

This was Aunt Lindsay's first time to Bear Lake. We are sooo glad she was able to come. We were able to see some of the fun projects she is working on, such a crafty girl, plus she gave us the sweetest blanket for baby Kathleen. (I will post a picture of it in a future post.)

Since the water is soooo high this year the beach was not completely beach. There are years of weeds that are now under water and have been getting pulled up by the water. Walking in the water was a little slimy going through all of those weeds. We would spend time raking them off of the beach each day. One of the days the neighbor got his tractor out and hitched it up to a trailer. We loaded the piles of weeds from off of both beaches and it made for a lot nicer playing.

Sometimes the fun just gets to be a little too much.

This picture was taken the day that Adasyn got stung by the hornet. At dinner that night she was really freaked out about anything flying by her face and wouldn't eat. In fact, she wouldn't stop crying. Ellen decided to go over and start playing with her. She was able to get Adasyn to stop crying and play with her. She even got her to start eating. It was one of the sweetest things I have ever seen. My girl is going to love having a little sister!

On Saturday we decided to start doing some clean-up around the cabin. The little kids were assigned to pick up trash around the entire cabin. Since most of them were so little they had a hard time starting to do things. Uncle Son, started helping out and became the Pied Piper of Children. He was followed around by all of the kids for about 20 minutes and then set up a "magic show" for all of them afterwards.

This has to be one of my very favorite pictures of Trevor. Aunt Lindsay took this one and posted it on her blog. It is priceless! Thanks Lindsay!

We were at Harding Haven on Sunday which means no playing in the water. We were able to have a little devotional meeting and then thanks to Aunt Moana, and I think really thanks to cousin Roseanne, there were all sorts of activities for the kids to do. There was coloring, and bubbles, and glow sticks, and Minute to Win It. My kids loved it!

Our original plan for Bear Lake was to stay until Monday afternoon, but with the breakdown of our van we had to change our plans very last minute on Sunday night. We decided at 8 p.m. that night to pack up our stuff and have Grandma Ladwig take us all home. We left Bear Lake at 10 p.m. Our kids were exhausted from the week at the lake as well as it being so late. There wasn't enough room in the back of Grandma's truck so Daddy just had them all sitting back with him. They all fell asleep draped all over Landon. We couldn't get a really good picture of it, but it was very sweet.

It was a very fun trip, just tainted a little by the breakdown of the van. We love family and love spending time with them! And there is no place better to do that at than at Bear Lake!