Introducing Pierce Olsen Romney...

Pierce Olsen Romney

September, 24th 7:10 pm

7 pounds 11.5 ounces

Practically perfect in every way!

As you can tell, we are all completely in love with this little guy. It's such a relief to have him here, to know he is safe and healthy. What a blessing!

For those of you interested in the whole story:

Saturday morning I woke up feeling a little sick and off and wanted to just stay in bed, but we had games to get to...we headed out to soccer, Mike at Parker's and I went to James'. I sat through the game timing my contractions, every 5-7 minutes. Mike and Parker were supposed to go to the Michigan football game, but when he picked us up, I told him it might not be a good idea. We dropped our kids off with the Dowdles who were amazing, then headed to the hospital with a camera only (I don't know why I refused to pack a hospital bag). When we got there, the contractions were hard and coming one right after the other...I was freaking out. I'd had Parker without an epidural since things were too fast, and I had no desire to do that again. Props to those who can go naturally and love it.  They rushed me through triage (I was dilated to a 3.5) and got me to labor and delivery right away. I got hooked up to an IV for group B step antibiotics and got all the monitors on and then, everything slowed down.  I started to relax and my contractions slowed. When my doctor came in a few hours later, he said today might not be the day since my cervix had not changed much. I knew he was wrong...I could feel it just like last time. I finished the antibiotics, got up and walked around for awhile with super hard contractions again. When they checked me at 5pm, I was dilated to a 5 and starving since I hadn't eaten the entire day, but my labor was real and it was a go! My contractions sped up and stayed consistent. By 6:00 they were unbearable and I knew the baby would be here soon. My epidural came at 6:30, sweet relief and just in the nick of time! My doctor broke my water at about 6:45, my contractions got extrememly hard and fast and all of a sudden I felt like I needed to push. They told me to wait and called the doctor back in and then he was here! It was all so slow then so fast and exciting.

When he came out, he had a fantastically healthy scream and I just cried and cried like I don't remember doing before. I felt so much love and so much emotion to be blessed to be a mother again and possibly for my last time.  He was beautiful and healthy and it was such a relief. I immediately thought how much he looked like my dad's side of the family, so his name was perfect.

Only Mike was in the delivery room with me (that's always how it has been) and we cherish those sacred moments so much of meeting our child for the first time. Amidst all the chaos, there is something so intimate and spiritual in that moment between the two of us. This time it felt extra special. Such a miracle. I have always been so grateful that it is Mike who is by my side through this life and the next. He is the greatest for me and for our boys.

Mike brought the boys back to meet their brother, and it was love at first sight. They have been so excited to meet him and hold him and they couldn't get enough. It was such a joy to watch them love him and welcome him to our crazy family. He's in the right place and I can't wait to watch their relationships grow.

My mom arrived the next day and it was such a relief to have her here. Honestly, I don't know how anyone has a baby without their mom coming to take care of them. I couldn't do it without her.

As funny as it sounds, I enjoyed those 48 hours in the hospital so much...just a little time to be with my baby and get to know him. He's a delight. So sweet and strong with a little feistiness that you have to have to be the 4th brother. I'm always shocked at how quickly and fiercely I love my kids...like I've known them forever. My recovery is going well, no tearing or stiches and only one small dose of epidural, so I'm feeling well and it was nice to get home.

The boys love having us back. I love feeling like a family again and we're ready for this new adventure.

Meal Planning

I like to cook. I'm not a gourmet, but my family thinks most things I make taste pretty good...however, it consumes a lot of my life and time between the planning, the shopping, the prepping and the cooking. I often feel like it's my full time job. So, when my cousin asked for ways to do it a little "smarter" I helped her brainstorm and have put the ideas into practice. It's working out great, and is so much less stressful, so I thought I'd share!

Step 1:  Have your family gather (maybe an FHE even) and list the meals they like to eat. Ideally shoot for about 25 meals (or just start with what you have). This is your "Master List."  These should be "go-to" things, and I like to organize it in types of food: Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Grilled, Soups Crockpot, Breakfast, etc.  If anyone would like a copy of my "master list" I'd be happy to send it your way. I'm also happy to send you some of my "staple" recipes.

Step 2: Plug these meals into your monthly or weekly calendar in a way that makes sense (not Mexican 6 nights in a row...). You can also have your family help you decide. A few tips:

• Don't put intensive meals all together...if you do, you know you won't make them night after night.
• We like leftovers, so on some dishes (enchiladas, lasagna, etc) I make sure we have enough for 2 nights.
• Cooking meat can be a hassle, so if we grill I'll put a few extra pieces on to use in another dish the next day.
• Each week there is one easy meal...maybe breakfast for dinner, grilled ham and cheese, or quesadillas...you know you will need one, so just plan on it.
• We often have people to our home on Sunday, so I make my biggest meal that day.
• In addition to splitting up cuisine, I like to switch up the meat from day to day and throw in one vegetarian meal each week or every other week.
• On busy nights, I like to have a soup, leftovers or a crock pot meal. I know which nights those are and I plan for it.

Step 3: Find some side dish staples. My kids love salad with ranch, so I always have lettuce and carrots on hand for an easy, healthy side dish. Find something your family likes and do the same. Having a salad also allows me to go easy on some of the fattier dishes I make (I have active, calorie burning boys) and fill up on greens if I need to. I'm also happy to cut up oranges or apples or watermelon if we need a boost of fruit or something extra to fill us up. It doesn't have to be fancy.

Step 4: Try something new! There are a variety of ways to get new, good recipes...blogs, pinterest, allrecipes.com. Once a week it's fun to try something different. If my family enjoys it and I didn't mind making it, it goes onto our master list and will be back in our rotation. Soon you should have plenty of meals to keep your family happy even if you start very small.

Step 5: Plan your menu and your shopping list and shop by the week. This saves money and time. Plus, it has allowed me to beef up my food storage with things we really use. For example, if you know you often cook with canned tomatoes or black beans, stock up on those things when they are on sale...you know you use them and you won't have to pay full price when you need them.

Step 6: Use leftovers wisely. I don't like food to go to waste, so here are a few ways we use up what we have:

Sandwiches: My family loves it when I add BBQ sauce and broil cheese over the top of left over meat (chicken, pork or beef) on the top of good bread. Experiment with toppings like grilled pineapple, coleslaw, or avocado.

Pasta: A little meat goes a long way in a pasta dish if you add lots of veggies.

Pizza: Find a good pizza crust and use any leftover meat in a creative way...like beef with red onions, and tomatoes or BBQ chicken pizza.

Stir-fry: Stir fry is easy and healthy and if you add lots of veggies no one notices how little meat is left.

Tacos: We like tacos with just about anything in the center. If I have leftover fish, this is about the only way to use it again.

Soups: Find your favorite soup recipe and add whatever meat you have left. Also great for using up ham, whcih can be a bit tricky beyond sandwiches.

Omlettes: At our house we love everything with eggs, so find a good meat/veggie/cheese combination that works for your family and have a double dose of protein.

Happy Cooking!!

Papa Visits the Big House.

There are a few things you MUST do if you go to school at the University of Michigan. One thing is attend a football game at THE BIG HOUSE. The football stadium is the biggest college stadium in the coutry...setting a new record at 114,800. Every game is sold out and the stands are swimming with blue and maize. It's quite the experience. We've all had it...Mike, me and the boys and we all loved it. Go Blue!

When Papa heard about the first ever night game at the stadium against rival Notre Dame he braved ridiculous ticket prices and a Southern California power outage to make it to Ann  Arbor.Even if he was only here for 36 hours we took advantage of every minute of his fun, supportive and vibrant personality. 

He got to watch all 3 boys play soccer, he got to ordain Mike to the high priesthood in our church since he now serves in our ward bishopric, he took us out to a great lunch, he hunted for snakes and frogs in the forest with the boys (the highlight of their life)...and...

He went to his first Michigan football game...and it was a crazy great one with an unbelieveable ending. It will go down in the history books and Mike and Rick were there!

We love you Papa. Can't wait to see you again!

First Day of School

We finally started school here in Ann Arbor. Summer was fantastic, but it was time for a routine and a little more productivity around here. The boys were so excited and a little nervous for things to begin. I feel very blessed that they all adapt really well to new situations...

JACE: Starting 3rd grade. Loved his teacher. A little disappointed that his 2 best buddies weren't in his class. Ready to make new friends. Super responsible about school work. Ready for everything and anything. Going the extra mile. A little bummed about how little play time is left after school, homework and practices. Such is life :)

PARKER: Starting 1st grade. First time going to school all day. Loved it all. It wasn't too long. He loved seeing his friends again. Loved having lunch at school. Loved playing at recess. Is ready for anything 1st grade can throw at him. Mom noticed a little extra emotion after school, but overall...fantastic.

JAMES: Starting Kindergarten! Yes, look at that face, he was that excited. Couldn't wait to get there. A little shy when entering the room. Lots of kids. Lots of new friends to make (not one person he knew in his class). Super young, sweet teacher. Only 1/2 day. Mom bawled when she left him...glad dad was there too. When he came home, all he could talk about was how great it was, it wasn't long enough, he made new friends, sang songs, did math...bubbling full of information. Mom was so relieved.

(As a side note...the deadline in Michigan is not until December, so James is starting Kindergarten at 4. We are planning on him doing Kindergarten again when we move next year and hoping it will be full day or we can pay for full day. We know academically it might be a bore, but he'll thank us later when he's not the VERY youngest. There are very few affordable preschools out here (really, $750 per month for preschool?), so doing it this way was our best option. So happy he loved it!)

MIKE: Starting his second year of grad school. Still working on smiling for the camera. He, too, loved being back and being that much closer to graduation and working again. He'll be ultra busy this semester, so we are glad we got him for the last few weeks. We are so proud of how well he's done in his program and are excited for what the future brings.

Yes, they are in sweatshirts and pants. Not because they were the cute, new things to wear, but because it was CHILLY! Everyone was so excited that dad came with us!

Sweetest thing ever to watch them be brothers. Jace is so good about taking care of Parker and James. I just love it.

And I have 3 hours each morning all to myself. It's nice and always goes by so quickly. I use the time to write articles, fulfill my Resident Advisor position, exercise and clean. Then, I get the rest of the day with James and we've been having a delightful time together. I'm trying to be as productive as possible because after the baby comes my mornings will be drastically different, but that's okay. Bring it on!

The End of Summer...South Haven, MI and Wild Animal Park, OH

In an effort to take in every last drop of summer and our Michigan experience, we decided to make it to the Lake Michigan beach one more time...this time in a tiny little town called South Haven. It was a nice, relaxing day. The water wasn't quite as clear, but the sand was soft and plentiful and there was a playground on the beach and a fun pier to walk along. Plus a quaint little mainstreet where we got delicious orange, lime and lemone ade and a burger before the drive home.

I promise we feed Parker. Our goal next year? Find a swimsuit that fits.

The boys thought it might be fun to jump off the pier and swim. Not an option.

So, they jumped into the sand instead. Millions and millions of times.

I feel so blessed that they all have such a good time together. Lucky, lucky me!

Our coolest sighting? The pirate ship!

Isn't this harbor fantastic? It was quite the picturesque town.

My least favorite excursion? The Wild Animal Park way outside Toledo, OH. The kids and Mike thought it was just fantastic to have dirty, stinky animals stick their heads into your car and eat out of your hand, lick your face, slobber on your window. So gross. I sat in the back. I was thinking it might be more like the San Diego park, but no such luck...and no tigers or lions either. On the upside the kids thought it was super cool.

Other than our fun excursions, the kids have been in heaven being home! They loved being back on their bikes, riding trails, and seeing friends, but what has really completed their life? Searching for animals!!! We've now had about a million frogs, toads, snakes and crayfish as pets (I let them stay in our yard for 24 hours, then we have to let them free) and we spend a ridiculous amount of time at the creek. It truly is boy heaven here. I'm thinking for our next move, we definitely need to be close to a forest again.

With the boys so happily busy, Mike and I have accomplished basically everything we needed to do to get the house ready for this new baby boy...bunkbed buying, room arranging, crib building, clothes washing, and I think we are almost totally ready anytime. So grateful to have a little free time with Mike and SO glad he can't stand to sit still. He was such a worker the entire 3 weeks and I was amazed at all we (or he) got done, especially while I was doing tons of stuff for my new job. It was great. Now, school has started and we only have a few weeks before this baby will be here. We can't wait!!

Summertime in Northern Michigan

 Kid Rock knew what he was talking about when he sang lyrics about summertime in Northern Michigan. It's beautiful and we tried our best to take advantage of all the fun before the craziness of school and real life starts again. We headed first to a place voted as one of the most beautiful places in the country...

Sleeping Bear Dunes Beach

We were competely shocked by the beauty of Lake Michigan. The water was cold but clear as the Carribbean. We had a wonderful afternoon soaking in the hot sunshine, cool water and soft sand.

Dad let the boys bury him in the sand!

Pretty amazing huh?

 Hiking the dunes
The boys were awesome hikers and made it to the top of the second huge sand dune...it's a real natural wonder to see the mountains of sand, then look back over the gorgeous lake. Running down was especially fun.

While we were at the dunes, we ran into bus loads of the men's Michigan soccer team. The put us to shame as they raced to the top. The boys thought it was pretty cool.

Traverse City
After the day at Sleeping Bear Dunes we headed to Traverse City to check it out. It was awesome! We got to stay in the coolest hotel that the boys adored...swimming, fitness room, restaurant, great pool and hot tub, king size beds, super cool shower, 3 flat screen TVs....it might have been the highlight for them.

Lighthouse
There are lots of lighthouses on the penninsula, but this was the only one close enought to see. It was kind of small, but still pretty cool.

 Old Mission Store
There was a really fun, old store we got to stop by and check out. They had all kinds of sundry items, candy, old guns, bows and arrows. It was a cool stop.

 Blueberry Picking
We found a blueberry farm that had full bushes and the boys loved helped picking blueberries and we all loved eating them. Yum!!!

 Jet Skiis
When the clouds cleared, we got back onto the lake....this time with jet skiis. It was the boys first time and they loved it!

It was one of our favorite Michigan spots as a family. The perfect mix of everything and the boys were so fun and so good. This stage has been amazing for taking advantage of lots of fun things. I just adore them all!!