Just a few pics. :)

 So, these are already old. . . but better late than never, right?

We were taking pictures of Jacob laying down, and Elsie wanted in on the fun. :)

She loves her little brother!

Just so you can see how small his head is, he is one little guy!

I love this picture.

We think we have a handsome little man in our home!  He is a blessing everyday and it is already hard to remember life without him here.

Jacob Michael Hampton

We are so proud to announce that Jacob Michael Hampton joined our family on May 24th!  He was 6 lbs. 11 oz. and 18.5 inches long.  So he is just a little guy but as happy and healthy as could be!  We love him to death already!

For those of you interested in the whole story: I was scheduled to be induced on the 23rd at 6:00am.  When we called to see if it was okay to come in, they said no.  So we called at 5:00am, not yet.  6:00am, not yet.  10:00am, not yet.  1:00pm, not yet; don't call back we'll have to reschedule you.  It was a bummer day!  We were all ready and just waiting all day long until we could call back and every time it was no.  So finally, to get our minds off things we went to Bountiful to visit my parents.  During dinner I started having contractions and by 7:00pm we were on our way to the hospital. 

Me at 39 weeks on the morning of the 23rd.

When we got there they really didn't have any rooms available!  We had to wait out in the foyer for 45 minutes until they could get a room ready for us.  Mike's mom came and picked up Elsie around 10:30 to go to sleep.  When they first checked me I was a 4.  My epidural was completely terrible (especially compared to my last one) and a week later, I am still hurting from it.  Things moved along quickly.  My parents and sisters came to keep us company.  Brindee was telling jokes and asking super awkward questions the whole time.  It kept me and the nursing staff entertained which was nice! 

Mom and Elsie waiting for Baby Jacob to come. :)

My nurse asked me to give a practice push and as soon as I started she said "STOP!"  She called the doctor and told him to get here fast.  When he did get there, I only had to push through 2 contractions and he was out!  Way easier with a small baby! 

Mike's parents brought Elsie over to the hospital at 4:00am to be able to meet her new brother.  She wasn't thrilled about being woken up in the middle of the night, but she was a trooper.  In this picture she is watching Toy Story (her favorite movie) and wanted nothing to do with saying "cheese."  But we will take what we can get from an 18 month old. 

Here are some pics of some special visitors at the hospital:

Sharlee, Grandpa Herrick, Grandma Herrick, Brindee

Grammy Tami

Grandma Herrick

Since then our little world has been turned upside down.  Elsie loves her new brother and she holds and kisses him every chance she can get.  It has been hard to teach her what she can and can not play with (like the swing is only for babies) so hopefully she catches on to that soon.  Mike and I are running on little sleep, but I wouldn't change it for the world.  He has 2 weeks off work for paternal leave and it has been super helpful to have him around! 

We took him in to the pediatrician yesterday for his newborn check and he is already doing great!  He gained 4 oz. so he is now 6 lbs, 15 oz.  (18%); 18.75 inches long (11%); and his head is 13 inches (6%).  We love him to death!  How can you not love that face?

Just because I have a couple cute pictures of Elsie, I'm going to use this post for those too!  Here is our sweet little girl!

My little helper!  She loves helping do the chores and sweeping is her favorite.

One of our favorite activities: playing with washable markers in the bath tub.  Here she is showing off some of her art work!

Some of her friends.  She treats them all like little babies and feeds them and wraps them in blankets. :)

Can I say much about this picture?  Let's just say she likes peanut butter and nutella sandwiches.  Love that smile!

Almost done. . .

Okay, so Mike is almost done with busy season!!! Elsie and I are still alive, and more importantly, so is Mike. He has been working crazy hours, which we knew would happen, and he is finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. He might even come home in time for dinner once this week (that hasn't happened since February). There are a lot of days where Elsie doesn't get to see her dad, but absence makes the heart grow fonder. Whenever he is around she wants nothing to do with me. I can handle that because it is so much fun to watch them play together!

Let's see, I am also 33 weeks pregnant now. Feeling huge and loving it! Well, not all the time, but most of the time I feel great. I'm still coaching volleyball and I have a whole bunch of protective girls to keep me from diving at practice. I'm pretty sure Elsie still has no idea what is going on. When I try to show her that there is a baby in my tummy, she just wants to pull on my belly button that sticks out telling me "the turkey is done" and has been since February. :)

I haven't been diligent about taking pregnant pics this time, but I did make Mike take one after I finished sewing a new skirt so it's a two in one photo:
So this was me at 31 weeks wearing by far the most comfortable item of clothing I can wear. Thus I wear it a lot and people probably think I'm weird but I'll keep wearing it as long as I need to. :)
Here is a comparison picture of when I was 32 weeks pregnant with Elsie. Not exact, but I'll take what I can get.

As for an update on Elsie:
-She now sleeps in a "big girl bed" like a champ
-She does all the warm ups with my volleyball girls (high kicks, burpees, running laps, etc.)
-She thinks she coaches my team and every time we are in a huddle she puts her hand up in the air the whole time waiting for the "break" at the end
-She throws temper tantrums that definitely come from Mike's gene pool, I would never do that!
-She is super talkative and will make friends with anyone older than her. When she comes to younger kids I'm afraid to say she is the bully because she is just too loving. If our little boy survives the first 2 months of life, he will be one tough dude!
-She climbs everything.
-She loves to tickle people.
-Brushing her teeth is one of her favorite things to do in the morning.
-She giggles and gives me kisses the entire time she falls asleep for her naps when I lay down with her and it is by far the best part of my day!

That's all for now!

Delayed

So, my due date was pushed back 10 days because our little guy is measuring small. So now I get to count down to May 30th. I'm not quite sure how this is possible because I'm way bigger in my pregnancy now than I was with my last one. Yep, my sister Sharlee is super excited to know that I'm looking huge. . . I'm pretty sure the hardest thing about this news is that I feel like I have to relive 10 days of my life. I went from being 24 weeks pregnant to 22 again, I'm working my way back and I'm 23 now.

Our little Elsie is sick right now which makes my life really fun. She is also having power struggles over food which I'm sure she gets from her dad's side of the family. :) I still love them. I can't believe how big she is getting and how much she learns everyday.

I am in full swing with Club Volleyball again. . . I love doing it and being with the girls makes me feel young again (23 is pushing it). Mike is just starting his first February-April busy season. Neither of us are excited about that, but we are going to make the best of it. Wish us luck!

It's a . . .

It's a BOY!!! We are so excited! His name will be Jacob Michael Hampton and he is due on May 20th. It took the Dr. a long time to find out because I am carrying so deep and the baby is in a crazy curled up position; but in the end she figured it out. What a crazy day! Anyways, I know it's short, but that's the big news in a nutshell! I hope everyone has a merry Christmas!

Officially a Toddler!

Okay, I know it has been forever since I've updated anything so here it goes. Even though Elsie has been toddling around for months she is officially a toddler (as of a few weeks ago) and lives up to the name wonderfully! We had a few birthday celebrations. My grandma had a family dinner to celebrate my mom's and Elsie's birthday. She made Elsie her own cake which she demolished face first; it was awesome to watch!

Then she had a little birthday bash with Mike's family. She got lots of fun toys and loved playing with her cousin. On her actual birthday, we had a family wedding so we just told her that the whole party was there for her and it was great.

Elsie is in the 91% for weight, 58% for height and 69% for head circumference. She also has 12 teeth! Some of the things she loves to do are dancing, running, climbing, clapping, talking on the phone, playing in the snow, chasing older kids where ever she is, and giving kisses. She is really funny with food because she is so skeptical of everything we put in front of her. She always tries things 4 or 5 times before she decides if she likes it or not. If she decides she doesn't like it, she throws it off her high chair tray. I leave it on the floor and she eats it when she gets down like it tastes better that way. Oh well, it's funny to watch. She loves her daddy and always runs to him when he gets home from work.

She has also started to do fake coughs and fake laughs when she wants attention. So, in the middle of Sacrament meeting she will try to get people's attention by fake laughing until they look at her and then the real laughing begins. :) She has learned to at least "cover up" her fake coughs now.

I bawled my eyes out the day before she turned one because time has gone by so quickly; but I just said it was because I was pregnant. Which I am by the way. I'll update on that next week when we find out what we are having.

Let's see, I am done coaching for the moment until Club Volleyball gets into full swing. Our team took 5th at State and I'm so proud of the girls! I am trying to figure out how I got anything accomplished when I had practice every day. Mike has passed 2 CPA exams thus far with 2 to go and we can't wait until he is done!

We were caught in that crazy windstorm and lost shingles, rain gutters, and a fence. We feel pretty lucky compared to the damage that was all around us. It helped reveal the things we need to fix to prepare for something else crazy to happen, which I'm sure it will eventually.

So for those of you who I am not sending Christmas cards to, because I'm a slacker, not because I didn't want to send them, this is the picture that would be on it:

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Big Changes

I know it has been forever since I've posted. . . but here it goes. We moved about a month ago. We bought a triplex in Layton so it has been fun learning the whole landlord/homeowner thing. Some days, I feel like everything has gone wrong! It's a lot of responsibility, but I guess I need to learn that sometime anyways.

Mike is working at Salt Lake at Grant Thornton. It's the middle of busy season right now for all the extensions people made for their taxes, so he's working long hours. I am working as a volleyball coach at Bountiful High School and I love it! Elsie is our little mascot. I made her a brave outfit and everything. She comes to all our practices and games. I can't complain about being able to take her with me. Her grandpa likes to have her around as well.

Elsie is now 9 months and WALKING!!! She has been walking with help for ages now, but a few days ago she started taking multiple steps in a row without holding onto anything! She still prefers crawling because she gets around much faster though. Let's see, she has 6 teeth. Her favorite games are peek-a-boo and running away when we chase her "I'm going to get you!" She makes massive messes where ever she goes. She climbs stairs, and falls down them usually gracefully. She opens cupboards and our sliding glass door. She eats everything (no surprise, she is related to her mother). We just took her to her 9 month appointment and she was:

23 lbs. 10 oz. (97%)
28" tall (77%)
18" head circ. (89%)

She is so much fun to play with and we love her to death! She has adapted well to all the new changes with the new house and is sleeping through the night! Yay! I think that's about it in a nutshell. I'm going to try to be better. . .

Here is a little video of Elsie

7 Months

So, Elsie is 7 months today. . . I thought it was worth updating the blog. For starters, she's crazy! She started officially crawling (as opposed to the army crawl) about a week ago. She likes to explore everywhere including the bathroom, the office, mom and dad's room, behind the chairs, under the table, and anywhere else she can get on her own. She loves to attack unsuspecting targets, like blankets. She always wins those fights. She learned to play by those rules from her daddy.

Sometimes, she just wears herself out. This is one of my favorite pictures of her after she fell asleep in her bouncer!

Once she has worn herself out, her favorite position to sleep in is with her head in the corner of the crib and up on her knees. It looks super uncomfortable, but whatever works I guess!

She loves to eat everything! She now has 5 teeth!!! She got three on the top within a week, it was crazy. She loves to grind them together, which I'm pretty sure isn't good, but she doesn't understand that yet when I tell her. This was her most recent experience with new food. She ate at least half that watermelon on her own.

She also loves shopping. It comes so natural to her. . .

This is just really cool, on Monday we went outside to enjoy the weather and a dove flew down and landed right next to us. It walked right over, under Mike's legs and right up to Elsie. Shortly after this reaching scene it attempted to bite Elsie, but she was too fast. Anyways, cool right? It even ate rice out of our hands, we were friends for like half an hour.
She loves to play with her alligator.
Okay, this is probably one of my favorites ever. She just discovered the glass door. First, she was interested to see me through it:
Then, like everything else, she had to taste it:
Then, I got the most awesome picture ever! Mike doesn't like it because it doesn't make her look cute, but it was so funny I couldn't resist! haha, I love her!
We hope you were entertained watching our crazy cute daughter grow up a little. We love her to death!

Someone New in the Family!

So, my brother Tyson married Michelle on Saturday! What a great addition to the family right? She makes him look pretty good. :) The whole day was so much fun. Someone was watching over them to give them perfect weather even though it had been raining for days before and ever since. They were able to do everything outside as planned! That's one example of divine intervention. Welcome to the family, Michelle, I hope you know what you've gotten yourself into. :)








This is a classic sister shot; it had to be included. I'm pretty sure I have the best sisters EVER! Just look at how cute they are.










Okay, so it was a long day for Elsie. Poor girl, no schedule and basically no naps all day long. She's a trooper though, when we were leaving at 10:00 to go home that night she was still laughing her head off!

This is what she usually looks like: all smiles and laughs. We love her to death! Yesterday she had her 6 month check up. We found out she was huge:

Weight: 19 lbs. 5 oz. (95%)
Height: 26 3/4 in. (84%)
Head circumference: 43 cm. (64%)

Graduation!!! It's about time. :)

So, my wonderful husband graduated with his Masters in Accounting from BYU at the end of April! It is so awesome to have him done! He was such a hard worker in school and it is well worth it now. He'll be starting his new job up in Salt Lake in the fall so I get to enjoy him for the summer (when he's not studying for the CPA Exam).

When I asked him how he felt to be graduated, he said "check". That's my husband for you. . . not terribly effected by change. I told him that we should celebrate and he asked if we needed to. I told him YES! Because if you don't need to celebrate, I do. So we went to classic skating and discovered that spit stains glow in the black light. It was so much fun! I'm so proud of you Mike!

Besides that, we have been having so much fun with our little girl. She is growing up way too fast! She has both bottom teeth now and she likes to use them too! She is also army crawling all over the house. The good news about that is she can entertain herself for a long time now. The bad news is that we never know where we will find her or what she will be in to. She loves almost all food and even the stuff she doesn't like she eats anyway and then gives me a face that says "Really, you're giving me this again!" She makes our life a little adventure and we love her so much!

First Tooth, Prom, and General Conference

So, Elsie had her first tooth pop through a couple days ago! Best part of that is that I didn't even know she was teething. Someone suggested it and so I checked and poked my finger on it. She's a trooper, she wasn't more terrible than she always is through the process. :) She definitely doesn't have the Herrick genes when it comes to teeth, she must be like her dad. We attempted to take a picture, I bet you can guess how well that turned out, but here it is anyway (pretend you can see the tooth).

My two beautiful sisters went to Prom with some very special dates. They are both so GORGEOUS I thought I'd show them off. P.S. These dresses were my first attempts at learning how to sew on sleeves. . . not bad right?

General Conference was amazing (as it always is). We spent Saturday at home and Sunday up with our families. I love all the advice that our Prophet gives us and all the other speakers. What a blessing to have continuing revelation today! Besides, it helps me reevaluate life and what I need to be better at. I know that President Thomas S. Monson is the true, living prophet in our day and that he is sent here to lead Heavenly Father's children back to Him. Grammi Tami got Elsie a new toy, that she loves! Here are some pictures of our pride and joy. :)

Elsie and Papa