Grandma Gay

It seems that even the year of the Great Larsen Family Expansion is not immune to loss. After an intensive open heart surgery last month it appeared that Grandma Gay was on the road to recovery, but I guess it was not meant to be. In the end we are glad that she slipped away quickly and peacefully.

Gay was Eric's grandma but she adopted me into the family wholeheartedly 8 years ago. She always had a kind thought and nice card for every occasion and never missed a chance to tell us she was proud of us. I wish I had more pictures of this lovely lady, but she was too often the one behind the camera.

Our thoughts and prayers are especially with Grandpa Don and the rest of Eric's family. I wish we could be there to help and support.

We'll miss you, Grandma Gay.

Approaching the end

Well, it's getting to be about that time here in Larsenland: I've passed the 36 week mark and things are plugging right along. I'll spare you the details about the current state of my uterus unless you care deeply but it seems like we're heading in the right direction and should have a beautiful healthy baby to show for all this sickness in the next few weeks. My doctor has told me I should have 6 more kids because I'm so easy to check and care for during pregnancy--she never has to go searching for the baby! 6 more kids are definitely NOT on the agenda but I'm mostly focused on just getting this one out. I've decided that the combination of side effects from medication and complications last time was just too much to outweigh the benefit of powerful drugs so I'm getting in touch with my inner she-woman and planning to go natural. Feel free to offer words of encouragement but no horror stories, please!

I've also decided that there are two kinds of people in this world: those who possess the gift of sleep and those who don't. If you don't recognize sleep as a gift than you must be one of the blessed. Eric is particularly blessed and can fall asleep mid-sentence, mid-breath, before even hitting the pillow. He can also sleep through practically anything. I, on the other hand, often spend hours horizontally before finally drifting off and rarely make it through a night without spending some more time out of dreamland. Pregnancy makes me much more tired and also makes it harder to sleep so I'm lucky to get more than 6 hours of actual sleep no matter how long I spend in bed. Last night I think I managed four (in random chunks) even though I gave myself time for 8.5. Yep, I think I'm ready for a newborn!



In other news, I got a little peek at this little one today as the doctor wanted to make sure she was positioned correctly. As far as we can tell, it's still a girl.

A New Addition to Our Family!

We are very excited to announce the newest addition to our family!  Things happened so fast that we weren't able to contact any of you beforehand, but we want you to know that everyone is doing well and is in good spirits.

She's a little bigger than expected -- about 4,600 lbs., give or take a few ounces, and 201.0 inches long.

Not much hair to speak of and we're still undecided on a name, but we think she's pretty cute.

As for baby Alyssa, well, she's still on her way.  We're officially down to the last month! We'll have a better idea about just when she might make an appearance after Meg's next appointment on Thursday.

P.S. Scotty was smashing Meg's stomach the other day when Alyssa got hiccups and he thought it was the funniest thing. Up until this point it's been hard to tell if he's really felt her move but he noticed and identified this all on his own. Apparently it made enough of an impression to make it into the dinner prayer tonight: "thank you for baby Alyssa's hip-ups, they were so funny!" Getting ready (hopefully!) to be a big brother...

A few thousand words.

I've just realized two things. First, you can sketch the course of this pregnancy by the extent of my blogging. Only two posts in the entire month of January? Here it is halfway through July and I have yet to post a word. It's been a rough ride and while I want this little one to keep on cooking till she's full term and healthy, I find myself wondering if I can make it. Physically it's a stretch but emotionally I'm about ready to crash and burn. My second realization is that I had a lot of fun adventures in June that helped the month fly by, and unfortunately I never seemed to get my camera out of the bag to document any of it.

Eric's wonderful mom came to play with Scotty and I for a week while Eric was suffering through training in a dungeon in Tulsa. Do I have any pictures? Of course not! We caught up on errands, whipped the house in shape, hung all the remaining pictures that were still laying around in piles, and talked a lot. It was nice to have a different form of conversation around here! We also found a gorgeous mother of the bride dress, as this year has become the year of the Great Larsen Family Expansion. 2010 will bring 3 weddings and 2 babies, so welcome all new Larsens! We LOVED having her and miss her! Can't wait to see her again in September.

We also had a drive by of Nevilles headed down for a family trip in Mexico. Sometimes it's nice to be the rest stop! I had a blast getting to see some of my cousins and their cute kids. Having Mad around makes me realize how much of a non stop chatterbox my kid is. And I don't mean that in a bragging mom "look how smart my kid is" way--I really, honestly mean that as much as I love the kid, it's impossible to get him to be quiet for more than 2 seconds. No wonder my life feels crazy sometimes!

In other news, Eric got released from our joint calling in primary to be the Priest Quorum adviser. I'm excited for him and think he'll do wonderful things there with those boys, but I'm a little bummed to be in primary by myself! The kids in my class definitely keep me busy and I quickly realized that 4 year-olds are not much different than the (essentially) 3 year-old I spend all my time with. I'm a little stressed about how it will all work out in a few weeks when I have a new baby to juggle as both Eric and I are scheduled to teach during the third hour of church. I thought maybe I'd ask another woman in the ward to help watch the baby if she's asleep and then realized that I got this calling so quickly the only women I know are in primary! I've only been in Relief Society one time since moving into the ward...Wish me luck!

I'm hoping that other members of the family picked up my picture taking slack, so watch this space for pictures of Leanne's visit, the Neville family, trips to the zoo and science center, and my master's graduation!