The Birth of a Legend (maybe)

The wee-man is here! Chase Aaron Moulton was born on Friday October 19, 2008 at 12:28 pm. He was born 3 weeks early because he was so excited (and so was Lauren; 20 inches and 6 lbs, 12 Oz.

Lauren and I had gone to the hospital the night before, on thursday, after her water broke. We made it to the hospital in a hurry! We thought we would have a baby by early Friday morning. However, by 2:00 am, the contractions weren't doing much and we had to wait until morning when she would get induced. By noon Lauren was well into the labor action, and a hard fought half hour later, we had a new addition to our family.

He's a beautiful little guy with long fingers and toes and a good amount of hair. To be fair, his occasionaly scrunchy face has a strong resemblance to the character 'Vizzini' from the Princess Bride (inconceivable!). In addition to his cuteness, he has a calm disposition and doesn't really cry very much.

I have already enrolled him in Arsenal's Youth-Gunner Football Academy (soccer) in London, England; so we should be expecting big things when he turns 10 years old and can head off to North London. Ellie and Emma will of course be upset that I didn't follow their suggestion of contacting Ballet West first; but I think he'll thank me when he is grown up....yea...definitely.

We will update everything when we come home tomorrow (Sunday).

Shannon Hale Book Signing

This year, the school where the girls dance, The Creative Arts Academy, will be performing a Ballet based on Shane Hale's novel "The Goose Girl", an adaptation of a Grimm Fairy Tale. Since she is from Salt Lake, a book store in Bountiful was able to have her come to speak at the the Creative Arts Academy and book signing. Ellie and I head read the book the month prior, and she loved it. She also got to play the part of the princess' lady in waiting "Selia" for the beginning scenes in the ballet, which takes place when the princess in the book is a little girl. So getting to meet the author and have her talk to Ellie and Emma was so exciting for them. Ellie is so funny, she loves stories of female authors, like Jane Austine (could I ask anything more from a daughter!), Beatrice Potter and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Becoming an author is consistently on her rotating lists of "what she is going to be when she grows up". She writes stories about her American Girl dolls in various historical settings - which are hilarious! Anyway, Shannon Hale gave a great speech and was very encouraging about "following your dreams" to all the kids in attendance. The first picture is of Ellie, with her friend, Elise Monson and the author Shannon Hale, the next with the girls getting their books signed

The Last Six Months . . .

I suppose before jumping back on to the family blogging bandwagon, I should probably give a little update on the family happenings for the last 6 months . . .

October 2007

The Girls were so cute for Halloween. My Emma was a "Sunflower Princess". She loves Sunflowers and spent every possibly moment playing in the sunflower butterfly garden we made last summer that sits outside her window. I think in August she announced to me that she wanted to be a "Sunflower Princess" for Halloween. I thought this would be a cinch to whip up without a pattern. I wish I could say it was (but that would be slightly deceitfully remembering the countless hours spent in my sewing room in the weeks leading up to Halloween and the numerous beta versions that I produced before the final product). But I must say, she is the cutest little Sunflower Princess there ever was!

Ellie was an angel. She had decided on this months prior as well. Her costume was a much easier endeavor! Halloween becomes a much more significant holiday with little ones. Truly, they have already been discussing what they might be for this upcoming Halloween. Ellie was a beautiful angel! This year was the first time she really grasped the possibilities that a night of door to door begging can hold! Up until now, we could get away with a few neighbors and stopping by a couple of friends houses before calling it a night. Her friend invited her along to Trick-or-Treat with her and her Dad, and Bryce and Emma joined in for an hour or so. Ellie was far from ready to call it a night when by the time that Emma and Bryce were ready to head home. Her friends parents dropped her off maybe an hour and a half latter, and I knew from that sparkle in her eye (maybe I could describe it more as a crazed look!) that the short "family" Halloweens of past were no more. C'est la vie! And this was the first year I couldn't get away with hucking all her candy after a few days. She was totally on to me!

On getting older . . .

So I turned 32 this week. Getting older hasn't really bothered me too much, although I find myself thinking I am 28 all the time. Certainly, I have never felt that my age has placed me in a "historical context" however, with the release of American Girl Doll's latest historical character, I have had to reevaluate this (in our home, history is understood in terms of which American Girl doll shares a similar historical reference -isn't that how everyone else understands history???)

To give an example, I can explain to the E's that my grandparents are were young during the the Great Depression (the era, AG's famous "Kit Kitridge" character is from) . No problem here, but this week the latest American Girl catalog arrived and they had released their latest "historical character" Julie Albright. So what is the problem??? Julie was a little girl in the 70's, yes, 1970's. But wait - I was a little girl in the 70's (granted a little younger than Julie's character - but I spent a good 5 years in that decade). I am not a historical character! Am I? Well I know this is a silly concern, and of course, I realize AG's marketing experts were trying to capitalize on parents nostalgia for their childhood. I just think it is a little premature to have a "historical character" from my childhood!

In protest, Julie Albright, will not be coming to the Moulton home anytime soon!

I don't mind birthdays at all, but they do remind me that my girls are growing up, and that does make my heart sink a bit! If I could just keep them small for a few more years before letting them grow another inch! The bitter sweetness of motherhood!

School Days

So Ellie is a big first grader now. She goes to Boulton (yes, rhymes with Moulton) Elementary. I promise last time I checked she was just a baby. Sometimes I still feel like someone is going to spot me at her school and call me out as a "a Real Mom Imposter". Parent Teacher conference still seems like something that my mom goes to on my behalf, not something Bryce and I attend regarding OUR daughter. Just strange!


Ellie is such a smart little whipper snapper! I told her that I would buy her the American Girl Doll "Kit" (the girls from the Great Depression Era, which is being released as a full length movies sometime around Christmas I think). Anyway . . . that I would get her Kit, when she reads her first 100pg. book. She is definately working on it. Plus she is just dying to read the Junie B. Jones books "by herself"! For those of you you who aren't familiar with Junie B. she is like the "Romona Quimby" of our generation.

Ellie is so smart and talented, I think maybe her most highly skilled talent lies in the art of manipulation though! WOW - how can a 6 year old be so tricky! But hey - hopefully she'll put her "people skills" (a more positive way of looking at it) to good use as she gets older! It is just so hard to get mad when she is so hilarious about everything. Dramatic you ask? Well the answer would be yes! (of course she gets that gene from Bryce - what a drama King that guy is! hee hee).

I have had to adjust to full day school though quite a bit. I really wasn't prepared for her to be gone that long! The bus doesn't drop her off in the afternoon until 10 min. to 4:00pm. And with Emma in preschool in the morning 3 days a week, I find myself a little lonely sometimes! (except right now, when my darling E's are screaming at each other, I just block it out and go to a happy place !)

I am SO excited for my darling Sister-in-Law Paige to move back up to Utah, so I can spend some time with with my only Nephew and Niece (Max and Kate). I might just have to steal them away from their Mommy here and there!.

Bye Bye Baby

Can it be???
How can my littlest one be off to preschool? (This is actually preschool, take II). We tried a Montessori school last year, but she wasn't such a fan (understatment) so we scrapped that plan after two months. And I am so glad we did! Our children are children for so precious little time, that I am so grateful, I had that extra year of "mommy school" time (what we would call the time we spent together when older sis was off at Kindergarten or preschool).

Ok, I can't lie, having those 9 hours a week do provide me with a little sanity time, but honestly, it is bittersweet. Next year she'll be in Kindergarten, and then first grade and that is 5 days a week until almost 4:00 (I know, not a news flash or anything - but as I've realized with Ellie, thats a lot of time, and frankly, if I had to choose - I'd rather be with the E's!). Plus there's no going back - this is the beginning of the rest of their lives AWAY from MOM!

We definately hope that we will be able to add more to our family of 4, but for now, having my baby Emma be a big preschooler (had her first field trip today) is a little bittersweet. But let's all take a collective "ahhhh" at how cute she is! (Don't gett annoyed at how miopic I might seem about motherhood here, although adorable, and untradable - The E's do induce frequent bouts of total insanity - which I am farely certain is a common emotion among mothers world wide). But give my girls up for a more sane life - NEVER!

Lets Start With Christmas Cards

Well, as with most things in my life, completion is an issue!

HOW MANY PROJECTS ARE ON MY
"TO-DO" LIST???

Well, lets just say, do I ever check things off? (unfortunately usually not is the correct answer). I am trying to accept that my expectations can be a little unrealistic, but honestly Lauren . . . I've just got to get it a bit more together.

SO..... I thought I would start this blog as double duty - keeping in touch with the world (and of course showcasing my cute duaghters!), and clearing my head of a few leftover "to do's" that are lingering around deep in my noggin and contributing to the chaos.

So Merry Christmas 2006

Bryce and I had actually gotten our Christmas Cards all ready to be sent (with just a few days to spare), but alas, some how they never quite made it into the mail. So I am just letting you all know that we really were wishing you a Merry Christmas AND a Happy New Year (and I think the photo above, was possibly the one we used in the card - but hey it's been a while, but it looked something like that!)

Fabulous!!!

- Send out Chriistmas Cards : Check.

I'll really try to send the paper version this go around

Hopefully our lives will be interesting enough to continue "blogging"

Loving

Lauren