Jonathan David Esplin is here!

Wow, two posts in a month, that is pretty impressive for me. Well, our biggest news is that our baby boy was born on December 10, 2012. He and Michael have a day apart birthdays, but that is okay. As following with tradition, he was a big boy - 10 lbs 7 oz and 21 inches long. Also, following tradition, we chose a name for him after he was born. The conversation went something like this: Time: About 10 minutes after the baby was born. In the room: just Robert and I and perhaps a nurse. Me: "So, really, what are we going to name him?" (some names we had come up with but never really stuck were anything that sounded decent with an "E" to start out with - not too many of those, but Ezekiel almost sounded right, calling him "Zeke" for short, Andrew is what the kids liked, Pinocchio made the list only because it ended in "O" - side note - MichaeL,  HyruM, EvaN, so naturally something with an O at the end would come next. Less of those American names than names that start with "E". )

Robert looks down at the baby for a bit and says, "Jonathan." Hmmm. Hadn't thought of that one since Michael almost got that name (I had already put a J on the birth certificate when Robert says, "No, no - Michael Johnson Esplin". Okay, I will cross out the J and write Michael instead). So, Jonathan for a first name. I then suggested David for a middle name. Robert was thinking more along the lines of Barton - his middle name and the middle name Michael would have gotten had he been named Jonathan.  David is my dad's name and where the "D" comes from in my name. My dad had five daughters and no sons so not too many people he  could pass the "David" to. I told Robert to think about it and I would think about Barton. I found out that Robert agreed with "David" when I read his post on facebook announcing the birth of Jonathan David Esplin. The name works for our little one.

He is a really good baby so far. I guess even though Evan is four years old, I still remember that he was not such a good baby. Even in the hospital when he was born he was a screecher. I would hear the nurses bringing him back to my room and he would be screeching all the while. I just prayed that they were going to the next room over and not mine. No such luck. So Jonathan is the complete opposite of  that. He sleeps when I want him to, he eats when I want him to, and the kids love him to pieces. Except Evan. He just can't seem to like the baby, and that is okay with me. I will still make more of a conscious effort to have more one on one time with Evan.

Without further ado, here are some pictures of him at the hospital. He has been home for three days now and I still haven't taken many pictures of him here, so I will have to take some and post them later.

Hanging in there.....

What a busy time we have had these past few months. School started for the kids and I guess you could say for me, too. I am PTO president this year so I feel as if I am at the school a lot. However, I say I will be taking December off due to the fact that I will be having my baby soon. He is not due until Christmas day, but I have never made it to a due date yet.  We don't have any names picked out, but the other day the kids thought Pinocchio would be a good name. I think we will keep thinking about names.

We had a good rest of the summer and in September I was able to go to California to be with my sisters and mom at our annual gathering. This time we went to Big Bear, California near Shantell's house. It was good to be there, but boy did I hate getting up and down the mountain with getting car sick. What a journey. My pictures from that trip are still on my phone, so I will have to post them later. But here are some pictures from other happening, because, let's be real, pictures are why people look at the blogs :) .

Molli got invited to a Zombie party before Halloween and had a great time.

Picture day at school

Picture day

Picture day

Evan's birthday cake

Hannah doesn't like the smell of the matches

Pirate Halloween Costume

Vampiress, Ron Weasley, and Egyptian

Fish costume that Grandma made - his cousin has an identical one

We got our Christmas tree the day before Thanksgiving, but I wouldn't decorate it until at least Thanksgiving.

The tree decorated, but all you can see is the lights.

 After my trip to California, I decided I was done traveling anywhere. The kids and Robert have been to Logan a few times to be with Shennie and Chris and their kids while they were visiting from Korea and to have Thanksgiving out. there. When Shennie and Chris were there, the whole Esplin clan was there but me. I am okay with that.I wanted to have Robert get a picture taken and air brush me in, but that didn't happen. Robert was here for Thanksgiving so the two of us headed to my friend's house and enjoyed dinner over there. By this point my doctor told me that I absolutely could not travel anywhere. So I enjoyed some time at home getting more ready for the baby.  Life is still good :)

Enjoying our Summer

 Wow, the time sure flies when you are having fun. August is already here and school starts in 3 weeks, unbelievable. We had a good July and here are some of the highlights. But first, as promised, pictures of the 

kids saying good bye to our old mini-van and a picture of our new 12 passenger :). (These pictures are from two cameras so they ended up out of order, but such is life - enjoy the journey of our summer).

Hyrum and Seth climbing the Throne

Aidan, Shennie and Jenika enjoying the morning of caamping

Enjoying the Lake at Payson Lakes

My sister and me after "conquering" our fourth 4th of July 5k together.

Waiting at the Parade

Michael and Hannah decided to do half and half... Walk down the Parade route until they came to where we were sitting and join us there.

Hannah and Molli meeting their new cousin, Jenika, a day after she was born.

First of the season sunburns, they are sure to wear sunscreen now.

Some of us even won medals

Iona days 5K Fun run/walk

More of the Splash Park (out of order, should be further down the page)

Can't have a summer without getting their one ride at "The Fun Park"

It is not that great, but they like it.

Michael found a peacock feather at the zoo.

Molli and Hannah showing off their new dress and skirt they made.

The lion yawning

Camping at Payson Lakes: Michael's Throne

The snow leopard rolling around

Riding a ride at Circus, Circus in Las Vegas

At the airport ready to fly to Las Vegas

Daniel and Erika coming out of the temple after they got married. Shennie did a good job finding the right yellow tie for Daniel.

At the St. George Visitor's Center

Hannah wanting to touch the temple

Some hawks in a tree, weird.

St. George Splash Park with the cousins

At a rest stop near Orderville

Hyrum climbed way high on some rocks

After returning home, we went to Yellowstone Bear World

This wolf looked so hot and tired

We got to follow a Curator Tour van

Their favorite ride at Bear World

Ready to head home.

And Summer has Begun

Somehow it is the middle of June and I missed posting anything in May. May was actually a bit of a blur. Towards the beginning I told the girls we couldn't cut their hair until after their dance performance. The dance performance came and went and we still missed getting their hair cut because I got really sick with E. coli. It was awful. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.... ever. The day after the dance performance (which happened to be on Hannah's birthday) Hannah and I went to Salt Lake with my parents, but, on Hannah's birthday I went to my first prenatal doctor's appointment. Yep, we are expecting #6 in December. Anyway, we headed down to Salt Lake and I wasn't feeling too fabulous. I thought that it had to be something more than just pregnancy. As it turned out, that was the beginning effects of the E. coli.  I still don't know how I got it.

While down in Salt Lake Hannah and I went to lunch with my mom and some of her friends, and then we got our toenails painted. After that, my mom dropped me off at a rehearsal for an orchestra put together of people that have been led by Jack Ashton, my former high school orchestra teacher. It was great fun and I am so glad I did it, even if I was very sick. After the rehearsal there was some finger food and pizza. Little did I know that that pizza would be my last real food for about two and a half weeks. After the performance, which my mom loved and kept thanking me for letting her be a part of my life, Hannah and I took the shuttle back to Idaho Falls and got home about 2:00 in the morning. We had fun and I am glad I was able to be with Hannah. The next week my mother-in-law came to help with the kids while I was sick. She ended up staying for three days and then on the last day of school took the kids with her back to her house for a week. That was fun for the kids and great for me. The kids got to spend time with their cousins who had been in Korea for a year.

So after finding out I am pregnant, I decided to be the new PTO president for next year. We are getting a new principal and I hear she is wonderful and I can't wait to meet her and work with her. So that about sums up May. Now that we are in to June, Hannah has summer school four days a week, and all of the kids just finished up two weeks of swimming lessons. Hyrum has T-ball two days a week. He really loved it at first, but with four games left,  he is done and keeps letting me know. I will have him finish, but I'll let him decide for next year if he wants to do that again. 

In July, my sister, Andrea, and I will be doing another 5k on the 4th. This will be our 4th one together. She told me she probably wasn't going to run it, she'll be walking it. I told her that I was going to be walking it as well. Maybe we will actually finish together this time. That only happened on the first race we did together. I have also signed up my family for another 5k for July 21. It is the one in Iona and this will be our 4th time doing this one as well. After that 5k we will head to St. George a few days later for Robert's brother's wedding. July will be good and I am excited to be taking trips in our new 12 passenger van! We just got it last night and I am very excited. The kids were sad to see our other van go, but they are also very excited about this one. We have a friend that we traded with (plus us giving them some money), but they were ready for something smaller and we are ready for something bigger. It is a good way to tell people that I am pregnant.

I hope to post pictures later, because let's face it, blogs are more entertaining with pictures, but this will have to do for now. Life is good.