Emma has arrived!

The day has finally come and gone! I went in to the hospital with a scheduled induction on November 16. Emma's due date was the 23rd, but she was measuring a little big, so we decided to take her a week early. We thought she may come on her own, since 5 days before my induction, I was already dilated to a 4 and 90% effaced. AHHH, I was so nervous! I had never gone into labor on my own before. But, we ended up making it to our scheduled appointment for Monday morning the 16th.

Everything went very quickly! I received the pitocin at about 9:30am, my water broke on its own at about 11:00am. I got my epidural about a half hour later (which worked great! As usual) and I could feel around 1:00pm, that she was ready to come out! When they checked me, I was right, we were ready to push, but since we weren't expecting it so quickly we had to wait for Dr. to arrive. Once she arrived, I gave it a couple good pushes and she was out in about 60 seconds.

Emma Renon Lehikoinen was born November 16, 1:16pm, weighing 8 lbs, 9 oz, 20 inches long. She is SO CHUBBY to me! I just LOVE IT! She came out just perfectly! I was hoping she would be right between AJ and Mikko, and she was. However, she is a short little thing. Both AJ and Mikko were 22 inches long. She has some dark hair, but not too much. Both the boys had a lot more than her, but we'll take every strand of hair we can get, cause I'm pretty sure she'll be bald for a while.

Daddy was a great coach! He is always wonderful during labor. He got to cut her cord, and even got to help give her a bath (which was a first for us). He loves his little girl so much already! And she is already such a Daddy's girl. She has him wrapped around her little finger!! I have been recovering pretty well. The after labor pains are MUCH worse the 3rd time around. I was sort of expecting it, but hoping it starts to fade soon. I hate taking pain medication, and I'm sick of feeling tired and dizzy from it. But other than that, we are enjoying our little addition!

The boys weren't able to visit her in the hospital, so they had to wait until we brought her home to meet her. We only stayed at the hospital for one night. When we brought her home on Tuesday, the boys were pretty indifferent about it. AJ said a quick hi, then ran off to play. Mikko ran straight to me and was a little afraid of Emma. He wouldn't touch her and didn't even want to look at her. But now he has really warmed up to her. He likes to watch her from a bit of a distance, but he will give her kisses and likes to point to her. He hasn't been mean to her at all yet, so I'm hoping he won't. AJ likes to take her things and is already protective of her stuff when Mikko tries to get into it. He says, "no Mikko, thats baby Emma's, no no". So our little family is adjusting.

We are loving having a little girl around. So far, she eats and sleeps wonderfully! But they all kind of do for a few days. So I won't say anything more, I don't want to jinx our good sleeping / eating baby.

Having three now has made things busy around here and its only been a few days, but I think we'll manage just fine! I'm excited for mine and Aaron's first night away tonight! We are going to see the midnight showing of New Moon! I am so excited and so grateful my sweet husband is willing to do this with me! We'll try to keep you updated on our little growing family, although we are moving in a week and a half, so it may be while before you hear from us again. But I promise... I'll try!!

It's official!

I have two "It's officials" actually.

First, I went to the Doctor yesterday and we did the ultra sound. Emma is about 7lbs right now and I am 371/2 weeks. So we decided to schedule the induction for Monday the 16th (a week early from my due date). We were thinking of taking her 2 weeks early, like we did with Mikko, but she isn't quite as big as her brothers. My Doctor said if I deliver on the 16th, little Emma should be between 8lbs - 8 1/2lbs. That is just perfect! I really don't want her to be any smaller than 8lbs. I like my babies a little on the chubbier side. However, I am feeling absolutely miserable right now. I'm starting to swell, my legs, arms and hands feel stiff. My belly really is growing to be huge (even though I'm not nearly as big weight wise as I was with the boys), its getting REALLY uncomfortable! I don't know if I am dilated at all, but I really feel like I am. Baby is head down (and has been the last few weeks). I just started having some contractions the other night, so it seems like we are getting into ready mode! We sure are ready for little Emma to get her, but we don't want her coming too early, so I've been trying to take it easy and NOT do things that will induce labor (poor Aaron, I think he was hoping it would be the other way around). We'll keep you updated!

Second "official" item, is that we are yet again... brace yourselves... moving. As most of you know the house we are renting now has been up for short sale for quite some time and was eventually going to go into foreclosure (although we have still faithfully been paying our rent to the owners who I'm sure haven't made a payment in over 6-months....). Well, the house is in escrow, and while there is still a chance it could fall through, we found something we really like, so decided to take it. We've been looking for the last couple months, knowing that the house could sell or go under at any point. Plus, this house is entirely too large for us. I haven't enjoyed cleaning it, or paying the rent and utilities for it. We want to start saving so we can buy again, so a downgrade is a must. We are just moving down the street, and we know the house won't be going under, because the owner just bought it in October and paid cash. This was one of the main reasons we went with this home. I am NOT taking anymore gambles on renting a house that's getting ready to go under!!! Its 2350 sqft (so still plenty big) and has 4 bedrooms. Its also has darker carpet!!! You have no idea how excited I am for this. Kids can make such a mess on carpet (especially light carpet) and I HATE dirty carpets, so keeping these clean has been a challenge. This house actually has tile through most of the downstairs anyway, so NO MORE SCRUBBING THE CARPET!!! ... silly I know. The biggest bummer is that we are moving the 1st of December. That's only a couple weeks after Emma is born. So I am TOTALLY NOT looking forward to packing up and moving everything right after I give birth, but I would rather be all settled for Christmas. Our initial fear was that we would get our 30-day notice right around Christmas... so while it will be a pain, between Aaron and I (if you know us well), everything will get done and while "words" may be exchanged in the process and stress will be high for a couple days, we are pretty efficient and I am confident that within a few days of moving, it will look like we've lived there all along. Wish us luck!

Halloween fun... and a few naughty things

Halloween was really fun for us this year. I didn't quite know how well the boys would "get it" but they did and it was SO FUN!!! We started out carving pumpkins (which they didn't "get" or care at all about) with the big 'ole Schwitters clan. Aaron and I had fun carving them though, and the kids had fun playing at GG's house. Its always fun getting together as a family and catching up with everyone.

(I thought this picture was so sweet! Mikko LOVES the swings, and he especially LOVES swinging with his Daddy)

Halloween night, we went to my mom's house for her annual Halloween Party. I think she was a little disappointed that the boys didn't want to jump in the "jumpy house" she rented... maybe next year. But all the other cousins LOVED it! Its always a hit! For trick-or-treating we were just going to take the boys to a couple of houses. We put Mikko in the stroller and let AJ walk. At the first house, I had to guide AJ a little... "say trick-or-treat... now say thank you and Happy Halloween". After the first house he TOTALLY got it! It was so fun. He and Mikko both LOVED looking at all the decorations that people would have out. They would point out the lights, the pumpkins, the ghosts, etc... The only problem we had with AJ is that he didn't want to stop! My parents neighborhood is a little spread out, and with AJ walking it was taking FOREVER! So we drove over to my cousins (Laurie) neighborhood where the houses are closer together and we did some trick-or-treating with them. At one point in the middle of it all AJ was holding my hand walking to the next house and he looked up at me and said "I like trick-or-treating mommy". Ohhhhh.... it melted me. I was actually surprised, AJ never cared about eating his candy. I think he just liked going up to peoples houses and having them put something in his little bag. He never once even tried to eat it. And the next morning when we were eating breakfast he said, "we go trick-or-treating mommy?" It broke my heart! I told him he had to wait a whole year, but I'm pretty sure he didn't comprehend it. So it was a fun Halloween! It makes me really excited for Christmas now that I know AJ gets excited about things. Hope everyone elses Halloween was as fun as ours!

(Mikko was Cosmo, the BYU Cougar mascot. This was what AJ was last year. I'm cheap and don't want to buy my kids new Halloween costumes. It seemed to work well!)

(The boys also got into the dirt right before we left for trick-or-treating. So as disgusting as it is, that's not candy or chocolate you see on Mikko's face... its dirt... maybe with a little cookie mixed in.)

(AJ was a little spider for Halloween. At first he wasn't too thrilled about wearing the actual costume. But we pointed out the spider on it, he liked wearing it. He also liked telling us he had a "spider" on him.)

(As you can see, Aaron and I came up with a last minute costume idea... being limited on what I can fit into... and being cheap and not wanting to purchase anything, Aaron was a ref and I was a BYU basketball player. Everyone thought I was hiding a ball in my jersey... nope, it was the real thing!)

These are just some pictures of some of the boys' favorite things to do... naughty things to do. They do many naughty things (not too naughty though... I have no room to complain), but these are their latest favorites.

(They LOVE playing in the car! As soon as I unbuckle them from their car seats, it is a race to the front of the van to get in the drivers seat. AJ says "I driving mommy" or he says "Cocoa driving like big boy". They can't really hurt anything right?)

(The other naughty thing they LOVE to do is get into the pantry and unload ALL the water bottles. They like to stick them in random places and tear off the labels.)

The end is in sight with little Emma. Tomorrow we do an ultra sound and schedule the induction. I am SO ready! Last night was horrible!!!! And her movement is hurting me so bad now! I don't know if shes extra squished or what. Anyway, I know the last few weeks are miserable for everyone, so I'll stop complaining. But we'll try to keep everyone posted. Most likely it will happen some time next week! Can't wait!!

New rooms

Some of you may or may not know that we recently put AJ and Mikko in the same room, so Emma could have her own. They have done excellent sleeping in the same room together! AJ is in a big boy twin bed now. My little boy is growing up so fast! He loves to fill Mikko's crib with books and toys in the morning when they wake up. I think Mikko rather enjoys it! Here are some pics of their new room.

Of course I am terribly limited on what I can do since we rent. Which means no paint!! I don't get to do EXACTLY what I would like for Emma's room, but I've had a lot of fun doing little projects for it. We really don't have the money right now to do all the things I'd like, but it has turned out nice.

I made these really cute bow and picture boards. So cheap! And I LOVE them WAY more than any I saw online or at any store.

I also recently took a trip to Phoenix where I visited my cousins Devin and Tanya. Tanya was so sweet to show me how to make these little headbands with flowers. It was fun, cheap, and so practical. She also showed me how to make a little ballerina skirt. So I made Emma's first little ballet skirt. LOVE IT!!

I also made the letters we put over her crib. Well, I didn't make the actual letters... but I painted them, sanded them, and then stuck the little butterfly and flower on there (which I also painted and sanded). I've had so much fun with all this!

So, here is her room so far. We are all ready for little Emma to come!! Thanks to my mom and dad for getting Emma her bedding. I LOVE it, and it makes me feel ALL READY for her!

As I mentioned, Aaron and I went to Phoenix a couple weeks ago, where he had a business meeting and I visited friends and family. I don't have any pictures, but I hung out with Jill (and Kelli was there visiting), going to the outlets and eating at Rain Forrest Cafe. It was fun! My kids would LOVE that place! We were seated right next to the moving loud elephants!

I also got to visit my cousin Devin (whom I hadn't seen in years) and I met his wife Tanya and cutie kids Rylie and Ezra. It was so much fun hanging out with them. Tanya and I did some crafts (the headband bows & ballet skirt), we got to eat at Cafe Rio (YAHOO!!!), and just hang out with the kids and visit. Thanks for letting me hang out guys!

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted. I am just SO tired all the time right now. While in Phoenix, of course, I got the stomach flu. Then, a few days later, Mikko got the stomach flu... then AJ... then Aaron got sick. Now, I am sick again with a cold and possible respiratory infection. AWWWWWHHHH!!! Its not bad enough that I'm having a baby in a few weeks, (cause that doesn't make you tired), I have to be sneezing, and coughing, having headaches, heartburn, ear aches, completely drained of any energy, and I get to clean up other peoples throw up, hold crying sick babies, and not completely ignore my poor husband. Thats my rant. Hopefully things will get better soon. Aaron and the kids have been feeling much better, which is fabulous. I am getting an ultra sound done in a week to see how big our little Emma is, and once we do that, I think we'll be able to pin down when I'll be induced. Right now its looking like November 9th, or 16th. So, I'll try to be better about keeping everyone updated.

Dirt, bug bites, good food, and more dirt!

For the holiday weekend we went camping up at Treasure Mountain. Barry and Lauren (my brother & sister-in-law) surprised my Dad by meeting us up there. He was TRULY surprised! Grandma Donna and cousin Tyler, as well as Grandma and Grandpa Schwitters also came camping with us. I was SO NERVOUS about this camping trip. I'm 7 1/2 months pregnant, and last time we went it was FREEZING cold at night! But our boys had SO MUCH FUN playing in all the dirt! I was pleasantly surprised at how good the boys were, although it helps tremendously when we have lots of grandparents, aunts and uncles to help us!! We had the most WONDERFUL food, compliments of my Dad, and way too many yummy treats!

On Sunday we had our own little sacrament and fast and testimony meeting. It was the best testimony meeting I've ever attended. It was just our family, and our friends the Andregos, with the quiet sounds of nature and beautiful scenery. Everyone in the family bore their testimony. It was the neatest thing hearing everyone in the family share their thoughts and feelings about the gospel and our family. The spirit was so strong and intimate, it really did feel like our WHOLE family (Lacie included) was there. I will treasure that moment and hope that it is something we can do again in the future. And I HIGHLY recommend it to ALL families.

We mostly just had fun visiting with each other, but an advantage to going to one of the girls camps is that there are TONS of fun things to do! We were all a little disappointed that we would be missing the first BYU game of the season (especially Aaron), but the caretaker of the camp was so sweet, he invited us all over to watch the game since his house was just down the road. And as I'm sure you all know, what a GREAT GAME IT WAS!!!! Ken (the caretaker) was also sweet enough to let us bathe the boys at his house each night, which made things MUCH easier!

They also had a little pond/lake that has a little beach where the boys played, with a little paddle boat. But most importantly it had a zip line that ran across it! Aaron, Tyler, Shaelie, Grandpa, Barry and even Grammy Pammy went across the zip line. It looked like a lot of fun and we bystanders, had fun watching them!

Tyler & the Zip Line

Aaron & the Zip Line

Grandpa & the Zip Line

Shaelie & the Zip Line

Grammy Pammy & the Zip Line

Barry & the Zip Line

They also had a shooting range. None of the guys brought any of their guns, but good 'ole Ken came through with guns galore! The guys had WAY TOO MUCH FUN shooting! We're lucky they all survived!

We played some cards, ate great food and snacks, threw around the football, took some great walks, laughed at each other, got really really dirty, and ended up staying pretty warm at night. It was such a fun trip, and while camping is EXTREMELY exhausting with little kids, the fun we had was totally worth it! Thanks to everyone for helping us out so much and thanks to Barry and Lauren for making the trip out so we could have some family fun!

(And I managed to get 6 bug bites on my foreheard. Seriously... I look like I have acne!)

Mountain House Fire station

Today, the Mountain House Mother's Club took a little field trip to the Mountain House Fire station. You could almost throw a ball to it from our house... okay, maybe you'd have to throw two balls, and you'd have to have a really good arm, but it is really close so we took the stroller and walked right over. At first my kids didn't seem interested, and it seemed as though we would be staying in the stroller the entire time. But after 10-15 minutes, AJ warmed up to the idea and started exploring around. They gave us a tour of the firehouse, showing the kids where they sleep, eat, work out, relax, and of course, get their gear on. One of the firemen even got all dressed up in the gear, with the oxygen masks on and everything, telling us why they wear each thing and how it works. They even let the kids come up and touch the gear! AJ liked his hard hat and big boots. Mikko mostly stayed in the stroller and ate fishy crackers. But they both LOVED touching the big wheels! And at the end, the firemen got out one of the hoses and let the kids take turns holding it while it sprayed water. It was really neat and the firemen were so great with all the little kids. So thanks Mountain House Fire station! It was a fun little field trip!

We have also done some other fun things in the last month... I'm just not great at always taking pictures... AJ and Mikko spent a lot of time with their cousins last week. We went to the park, went swimming, had a family dinner, a sleepover, and loads of laughs. Mikko, who doesn't like many people, LOVED his cousin Caitlyn. He always wanted to hold her hand and have her hold him. It was really sweet. AJ plays well with all his cousins, but he seemed to want to copy everything his older cousin (by 4-years) Brian did. When Brian wanted to look out the window, so did AJ. When Brian wanted to lay on the couch, so did AJ. It was really cute. Of course I didn't take any pictures, but I promise... it was a good time. So good in fact, that's why I didn't have time to take any pictures!

This last month, we have also taken the boys swimming a few times at Aunt Julie's house. At first the boys weren't too big on it. But now, they do great! AJ likes to kick his legs and Mikko tries to blow bubbles. Of course, Mikko only lasts so long... about an hour, but a huge improvement from the beginning of the summer. Thanks Grammy Pammy and Shaelie for helping us out. It's nice for ME to have a break once in a while!

(Mikko and Aunt Shaelie)

(AJ and Grammy Pammy)

We also took a little field trip to Pixie Woods in Stockton with the Mother's Club. Its a really cute, inexpensive place to take the little ones. It has a whole bunch of themed playgrounds, and a picnic area, as well as a water area for kids to run through. They also have a few rides, but my kids are WAY TOO SCARED for those. But they had fun playing on the different themed areas and of course, their favorite was the swings... cause we don't have those at home!

I have also gotten to take some MUCH NEEDED mommy time to do some fun things. One of my friends had a little So You Think You Can Dance Finale party, with yummy snacks and great conversation. It was really fun. We also had a great Enrichment this month, with a fabulous dinner and some classes on getting ourselves organized. The classes were great and it was fun hanging out with everyone. I also went to a Mother's Club "Moms Night Out", where we decorated cupcakes. It was much easier than I expected and lots of fun. We did Owls and Flowers with Ladybugs. ... and they were yummy!

And here are just some pictures of the boys hanging out.

(My sweet little AJ saying "cheese" for the picture. It doesn't quite work out into a smile.)

(My recently "fuzzy-haired" Mikko. Doesn't it look like he has just gotten into something naughty and he's saying "it wasn't me".)

(AJ helping Grandpa and Daddy fix his little motorized truck. AJ LOVES to help Daddy change batteries on toys and use his tools.)


(Mikko getting food all over my couches... as usual...)

I won the "LETS GET A DOG" battle, but not the way I wanted to

Dogs. UGH... sorry dog lovers. The idea of having a dog around, does not sound fun to me AT ALL!! Since AJ and Mikko seem to LOVE dogs lately, Aaron has been trying to convince me, that eventually we NEED to have a dog. "Boys MUST have a dog," he says. Who will take care of it? "The boys," he says... yeah right. Cleaning up animal hair that will be ALL OVER my house... this is the one I have a hard time getting past. I guess since I didn't grow up with dogs, I really do not feel a need to ever have one. Aaron persists. How will I win this one?

Switch topics for a moment:

As some of you may or may not know, just over a month ago, we learned the hard way... the VERY hard way, that AJ is EXTREMELY allergic to Cashews. After a rush to the emergency room in Tracy, an ambulance transfer to Children's Hospital, another emergency room, another ambulance transfer to a different Children's Hospital location, an overnight stay, a crap load of medication, IVs, a trip to our pediatrician the day after, and some blood work, we discovered he is not only SEVERELY allergic to Cashews, but EVEN MORE allergic to Pistachios, and mildly allergic to Almonds and Hazel Nut. So.....

Since that episode, I have probably been slightly paranoid when it comes to AJ. Every time he coughed or sneezed, or even rubbed his eyes, I wondered if he was again, having an allergic reaction. Lately, AJ has been coughing a lot. Especially in the middle of the night. It seemed like he would get a cough reaction after he ate sometimes, so we made an appointment with an allergist to see if we could nail down any other allergies (food and other) AJ may have.

So yesterday AJ got about 20 FABULOUS skin tests. While I know it was necessary, nothing pulls at your heart more than seeing your child in pain, screaming, clutching to you, with tears streaming down their face. I hope we never have to do THAT again. Well.... AJ has no other known food allergies. Which is a huge relief. Reading the labels on everything to avoid the nuts has been overwhelming enough. So what has been causing these coughing episodes?

Dogs.

Cats.

Dry Grass.

Did I ever mention the women who last lived in this house had a dog? Did you also know that we seriously live in the windiest place in California? Ugh... the allergist said his allergic reaction is EXTREMELY strong to the dogs and cats. She also said he probably does have asthma, but only as a trigger to his allergies. Thus the coughing when he has been around a dog, a cat, or outside windy Mountain House. My poor child is inheriting the WORST things from me!! I too, am allergic to dogs and cats (mildly to dogs, but pretty bad with cats), but I can usually control it by not touching them, and taking something before I know I am going to be around them, and using an inhaler (which is always TOTALLY cool). Kids aren't so easy.

Well, I guess we won't be getting a dog. Mom yells, "WHOO-HOO!!!!" But this is NOT how I wanted to win this battle. Poor AJ. He LOVES dogs. And while I know it won't kill him to be around one once in a while, I also know how annoying it can be to be sneezing and coughing at some one's house, rubbing your eyes, and feeling itchy, due to a dog or cat, and then as a result having a hard time breathing. So, we will try as hard as we can to keep him away. But the mean mom has already had to come out. Yesterday, after hearing some barking at Grammy Pammy's house, I had to tell an anxiously excited AJ, that he couldn't go pet Kona (GG's Dog). Mean Mom. But now, with the help of Zyrtec, and albuterol using a nebulizer (which as you can imagine is going REALLY WELL... right), but hopefully, we can have a happier, cough-free AJ. Mom really doesn't like to win like this. So while we will always have a DOG-FREE home, it has not come without a price. One I would rather not have to pay.

(AJ asking me to sing a song with him before he goes to bed)

(Mikko trying to grab my camera before I can get a good picture of him.)

(Mikko and AJ sitting on AJ's bed. Mikko LOVES to climb on AJ's bed, and of course AJ wants to kick him off. We are working on sharing.)

(I just LOVE my little Mikko. He has become SO MUCH FUN, the older he gets. He always manages to surprise me, which is the complete opposite of AJ, who is totally predictable. I just love his sweet little face.)

This past weekend we celebrated Grandma Donna's 65th Birthday. It was a weekend event, staying the night in Modesto, going out to dinner, and throwing a surprise party. We were SOOOO tired when we got home (to top it off, AJ threw up in the car on the way home), but it was TONS of FUN!

Happy Birthday Grandma Donna!!

(AJ taking a ride Grandma Donna's yard decor)

(Mikko and Mom on Grandma's swing)

(Mikko giving Daddy some loves... not really... he is our fiesty one!)

(Grandma blowing out her 65 candles)

(AJ and Tyler at Grandma's party)

(Aaron, his brother Chris, and Grandma)

(Mikko and Daddy at the party. That was a long night for poor Mikko.)