Name

Before Oliver was Oliver he was Shortening. The boys insisted that this be his name while I was pregnant. We sent Sam to a neighbors to borrow some shortening, and he came home and told us he thought that would be a beautiful name for our baby. And so that's what we called him, baby Shortening.

You may think that we did not follow in our tradition of having alcohol names with our children. But wait!

Oliver Sparks Dayton. Seems harmless right?



Let me introduce you to Sparks, an alcoholic energy drink. And you just thought it was my maiden name.

Who knows what our next baby will be named. We're thinking Morgan.

16

October 16th - we decided to move.

November 16th - Oliver baby is born, one week after moving.

December 16th - Adam finishes finals.

It has been a long 2 months.
Hooray for Christmas break!

sweet

11/16/11

9 AM - Check into the hospital.

10:30 - Doctor breaks my water

11:30 - contractions are not getting stronger so we decide to start Pitocin

1 PM - I am talking on the phone with a friend, Adam and I are frustrated about how I'm not feeling like I'm progressing.

1:20 - Contractions are getting harder, I ask the nurse to call for an epidural. Says he'll be there within 15 minutes

1:50 - 30 minutes later I'm getting an epidural, while still having painful contractions. Nurse checks me, I'm a 7.

2:00 - Epidural is done, I am crying because contractions are becoming very hard. Nurse checks, I am an 8. Epidural will kick in in 15 minutes.

2:04 - This contraction hits like no other, I feel like I have to push, but I think I must be crazy, the epidural will kick in. I don't say anything about needing to push.

2:08 - Next contraction I realize I truly have to push. I tell the nurse, she checks me and then starts flying around the room calling the doctor in and changing the table for birth. Adam asks what I'm at and she tell us a 10. I start crying as I realize I have to do this with no epidural. I am totally terrified. I tell Adam I can't do this and he tells me I have no choice. This is my nightmare coming true.

2:14 - He is here.



7 lbs 15 oz

At this point, he is still just baby Dayton. No name.





Brothers come bearing gifts. A lightsabre and a stuffed doggie for their new little brother.



Lots of family and friends come to visit. He is one loved little boy. And he finally gets a name.

Oliver Sparks Dayton



Now we are home. At the brown house. It's kinda a weird feeling bringing him home to a place we have lived only a week. But it's beginning to feel more like home.

messy

This is my life right now.



A total mess.

With a card table. I sold my other table one and cried.

I keep telling myself this is going to be fantastic once we get down there. It's the "getting down there" process that I'm hoping I can live through. And it is going to be great, just moving while pregnant is not very productive.

Tomorrow tomorrow. Just praying I don't go into labor. I don't want this baby to be the one who decides to come early.

some projects

There is always some sort of project going on in my home, but I am too lazy to always show them on my blog. Here are a few I got around to photographing.

This is the landing at the top of the stairs.



And here it is now.



Not the best picture. I had seen book page walls before and LOVED them. I love the way it turned out, I want to do another one in our new place.

I had big plans for the babes room. I haven't ever really decorated a nursery. Sam we lived in my grandpa's home, Jack's room I only got painted, so this one I really was going to make cute. We'll see what happens after we move, but here's how far I got before we decided to move.



I did it all by hand, and it was really fun. I don't think I have it in me to do another one in the new house by the time he comes.

Oh it's sad to leave my house. I'm not super attached to it, but when you spend your time doing projects and improving it to where you like it, it's hard to leave all the work you've done. I am sure I'll feel the same way leaving the "brown house." It's brown, so that's it's name.

Halloween

Alright. Before you read on, please note that this post is not for you. It's for my husband. He never asks for anything on the blog, but he asked for this.

For Halloween he wanted to be a white trash wedding/rednecks. Whatever. What I didn't realize is he wanted me to have my belly exposed AT ALL TIMES.

Anyone who does not like naked pregnant bellies, please stop now. What you are about to see is not the cutest. But it is funny.



There you go honey. You better love me. I posted this AND I'm moving to Provo 37 weeks pregnant.

At least the kids look cute.

Someday I'll be able to laugh at this whole situation. But not today.

X

Our boys love the letter X. So when we saw an X in the sky, we had to take a picture with the boys doing their X's.



Yes, yes, I know you see that red sign.
We are moving.
To Provo.
It's a long story.

Here is the short version. We never see Adam. Now we will.

I am sad. Heartbroken. But I can now talk about it without sobbing.

It's the right move for our family. I know it. Despite it being horrible timing.

(Why yes, I am almost 36 weeks pregnant...)

It will all work out.

St. George!

Adam had fall break so we took off to St. George for a few days. We took the boys to see The Little Mermaid at Tuacahn. Oh my. It was wonderful.



Getting ready for the show to start.



I have to laugh at Jack. He was very worried his popcorn was going to spill.

How did I get so lucky with such cute and funny boys?



They had to stop the show twice due to rain, but it cleared up within minutes. Out came our ginormous umbrella. So glad we had it.



We can't wait for Aladdin next year!

make-up 2

Remember when Sam got into my make-up?

Okay, well now it was Jack's turn.

apples

It's good our kids love apples as much as we do. Although sometimes having them help in the kitchen is a little crowded.



But really cute.

Jack asked for a bite of cheese the other day, so Adam gave it to him.



We later found him with a big hunk just eating away.



This kid is so goofy.

cleaning

Sam loves to vacuum. He gets my vacuum and his out ready to go.



And then does some awesome dance moves.

the big three

Oh my heavens, look who is three!



So we did what he likes to do best, throw frisbees. I'm being totally serious. This kid LOVES his frisbee.



All Jack asked for was a Costco cake. The one with "flowers and a sun!"



Love this crazy little kid.

cage

Remember way back when we were building something...

yeah...it's been done a while but if you haven't been to my house, you've never seen it.



And these are the inhabitants.



Their names were Orville and Wilbur, then "Sam and Jack again." Now they're kinda nameless.

They serve absolutely no purpose. But to look pretty.



Now if the rest of the porch could be as cute as the cage. Someday right?

Mamina

Funerals are never easy, even when they are expected.

Adam's grandmother Monica passed away earlier this month. Her funeral was this weekend and it was a great tribute to her life.



Not only did we celebrate her life, but it was the burial of Monica and her husband Aldo. Aldo passed away 4 1/2 years ago and was cremated. So his ashes were put in her casket.



I only knew Mamina and Papillo (those are the names they had as grandparents), while they were old and frail. Adam and I used to go over to their home a few times a week when we were newlyweds and Adam would do physical therapy with his grandfather while Mamina and I tried to communicate in her broken English how to cook. Most of the time she would ask Adam what the word was she was looking for, or if I couldn't understand, she'd shrug her shoulders and move on. Usually we'd end up laughing since our communication was so limited.

The boys handled it well. They did know Mamina. She would speak fast Spanish to them and they would giggle. Jack would talk in jibberish back to her.

The day before the funeral Sam said, "Mamina talks like this, blobby blobby blah blah." We tried to explain that it was Spanish, another language, and when Adam started to speak in Spanish, the boys just laughed.

It is sad to see a generation pass. We are so indebted to them. They made many sacrifices to bring their family to America, and for that we will be forever grateful.







Even though it was a funeral, we still had a little fun. Mamina would be happy.

halloween

Call me insane or blame it on pregnancy hormones, but Halloween is UP at our house!

Well, mostly up.

I still have more. But here's a peak.





I will wait to pull out all the birds, mice and bats. Although one just had to come out.



But the real action is with the spider rings. The boys are excited to be sporting them.



Sam keeps asking if we can dress up the baby for Halloween. I keep telling him the baby will still be in mommy's belly. One time he said, "Can we dress it up in there?"

I am so glad my kids love Halloween as much as I do.

preschool

How is it that we get so impatient with kids, counting down the days til school starts.



But then the day comes and we are sad.



This will be good for me and Jack. I'm excited for time together just the two of us...for 2 1/2 more months. Then he'll get some time to be the big brother with out the bigger brother hanging around.



I love my crazy boys, despite Jack not being able to take a normal picture. Good thing we have another one coming.

candy

We have a new friend in the front entryway.



I love yard sales.

We decided to make this an incentive for the boys. They earn their quarter each day by doing nice things, helping do jobs, being kind to each other. It worked for a few days. Now when I say to Jack, "Oh, you're not going to get your quarter acting like that," he says, "I don't want a quarter." Heaven help me with that kid.



p.s. This is not a "bring your own quarter" thing. We have a tin of quarters stashed away. Don't you dare use your own quarter.

This little boy drives me crazy, but when I see him like this, I can't help but love his naughty little guts!

First day of year 2

Here we go into his second year...



He started BYU 10 years ago. Take out two years for a mission, and one between his masters and law degree, that makes 7 years. Plus the 2 more he has, will be a total of 9 years of attending BYU over the period of 12. Whew.

You know you've been attending BYU too long when you have to get your FOURTH student ID.

It's almost enough to make a wife go crazy. Almost.

I know he'll continue to do well and he LOVES school, so I can't complain. Good things are happening.

NY Day 3

We went to the Twin Towers site, saw the preview of what will be unveiled next month and walked around an old church across the street from where the towers were.





The cemetery was amazing. I love that they have let an old building and landmarks stay just the way they are in the big crazy city.

We went to the Tenement Museum, which I say is another must see in New York. There are a few different tours through an old building talking about different families that lived there, what it was like when they did, and the struggles and challenges they faced. Some of the building is left as they found it, other parts they have made to look period appropriate. No pictures, they weren't allowed. I wish we could have done every tour.

We rode the Staten Island Ferry. It's wonderful because you don't have to walk, it's breezy and cool, and it's FREE.



Side note: don't wear a skirt on the boat. Despite my attempts at tucking it between my legs, the back was flying up for a good few minutes. Gave everyone behind me a good show.



Top of the Rock: really expensive, but really awesome.

And then we saw Hair. You all know how that ended.

Our New York trip was a whirlwind and exhausting, but oh so much fun. Of course, I didn't even talk about all the good food we ate or any of the crazy people we saw. It was a wonderful break from our regular lives, but it's good to be home.