More pictures of Josh

We have way too many pictures to post them all here (69 total) so instead I'm giving you the link to our Picasa site where you can see them all at your leisure and don't have to wait for this page to load up.

The url is:

http://picasaweb.google.com/melissa.lasley/JoshuaThrough2Weeks#

Hopefully it works.

Also, I just have to apologize to my mom. I feel incredibly terrible because we never got a picture of you with Josh. You were here for a week and I'm not sure if I thought we had done it, or figured we would later, but I apologize. But if you could send me a photocast of the pictures that you took while you were here I would appreciate it. Maybe there was a miracle and you've got a picture of you and Josh on your camera.

New Calling Nerves

I have a new calling. I am the new Primary Chorister. I am very excited about this but very nervous too.
The positive:
1. I love Primary
2. I love Primary Songs
3. I love to sing
4. A counselor in the Primary presidency is going to take care of the program (in 3 weeks) so I don't have to.

The things I nervous about:
1. I don't sing very well...I'm not good at staying on tune, and anything above the first G above middle C requires my falsetto voice.
2. I don't sing very loud. Every Primary chorister I have ever sing is always able to sing louder than the kids - it is sort of a requirement so that they can hear you and follow you.

So there are just those 2 things that have got me worried. The worst part is that I don't really know how to fix them. I wish I sang better...I have always dreamed of having a nice voice but it isn't really a reality.
AAAHHH!!!
I did order the Childrens Songbook songs on CD yesterday so hopefully they will come before too long so I can work on memorizing a lot of the songs. I also want to see if the Primary already has any music props/helps for the kids. I need to read the info online LDS.org and see what suggestions they have for me.
Anyway, wish me luck. I'm going to need it.

Tagged by Melinda

So, my sister-in-law tagged me...at least I think I am the Melissa she tagged. And while I have a million other posts to do, they all involve the other computer, children in bed, and energy on my part. That hasn't happened yet but I felt like doing this one. There will be lots more posts coming. Anyway, to the tag.

8 TV shows I love to watch: (I can only watch the ones that they show online any more because we don't have cable anymore.)
1. Bones
2. The Office
3. Survivor
4. Lost
5. Heroes
6. The Amazing Race
7. The View
8. Life

8 favorite places I love to eat: (these are scattered across the country)
1. The Three Samurai (Coralville, IA)
2. The Art City Trolley (Springville, UT)
3. Subway
4. Papa Murpheys - I know you don't eat there but it is "eating out" enough for me.
5. Chinatown (Provo, Ut)
6. Grannies (Heber City, Ut)
7. That Greek Place/Mt. Vernon Restaurant (Cedar Rapids, IA)
8. McDonalds - Big Mac, baby.

8 things that happened yesterday
1. I fed Josh
2. I fed Eli
3. I washed laundry
4. Folded laundry
5. Watched an episode of Bones online.
6. Finished reading The Host for the 2nd time
7. Ate yummy peanut butter/chocolate chip cookies from a sister in the ward.
8. Read my scriptures.

8 things I look forward too:
1. Morgan getting his first paycheck
2. Eli learning how to be gentle with Josh
3. Owning a home (years away)
4. Losing baby weight
5. The start of the fall TV season - hopefully I'll have time to watch some shows
6. Getting sleep.
7. My dad coming to Iowa in October! WOO HOO!
8. Visiting family at Christmas

8 things I love about Fall:
1. Perfect temperature - you can leave your windows open
2. Beautiful colors of the trees
3. Fresh vegetables
4. Cheaper vegetables
5. Holidays are getting closer
6. TV shows start again
7. School starts (but not for us this year!)
8. Disc golfing is less sweaty.

8 things on my wish list:
1. Lots of movies
2. Lots of books
3. Horseback riding lessons
4. A ruby ring
5. To not get so upset and my children (I'm working on that right now)
6. To travel.
7. A more healthy body
8. Bedtime to come sooner

8 people I'm tagging:
1. Stephanie
2. Sunny
3. Jamie O.
4. Jamie J.
5. Jessica
6. Alisha
7. Cherie
8. Erin

Thanks Grandma!

I have to send a great big THANK YOU to my mother-in-law for coming and helping us the first few days we were home. Shari - you are absolutely amazing, always taking Eli and playing with him and helping him. The first full day we were home I don't think Morgan or I did anything other than sit, eat, and sleep and you took care of everything.

We are having a difficult time trying to help Eli find the right level of physical love towards Joshua. He always wants to hold, hug, or kiss him and continually asks for "One More hug/kiss" but there never seems to be an end of the "One More"'s. Eli also wants to be right in on the action. Laying right next to Josh, or trying to have Morgan or I hold both Josh and Eli at the same time. And today I was showing my mom my sweet new nursing apron and Eli climbs onto the couch and puts his head on my lap under the cover as if he were the baby. That was a little weird for me. I am just not sure of where to draw the line of how close, involved, or how much I should explain to Eli and let him watch. I don't want him to feel like I am abandoning him, but I want to keep Josh safe and have a little bit of privacy/modesty.
Any suggestions?

Way to go, Morgan!

I just wanted to send out congratulations to my wonderful husband. He has passed the Iowa State Bar! I never really had any doubt that could or would pass the bar, but I am so proud of all of the hard work that he put in to studying for the exam and preparing himself for it. It all payed off!
We actually found out a day sooner than we thought we would. I was nursing Josh and talking with my mom on the phone when Morgan came him with his laptop and showed me that the link was active with the list of those who passed the bar. He seemed pretty nervous to open it, but we got his mom in the room with us and checked the site. What a relief to have that over with! Morgan was saying that he will never have to take another school test in his life after this.
Morgan will be an "official" attorney next Friday the 19th. We will go to Des Moines, Iowa where he will be sworn in. I am pretty excited for this and am glad that my mom will be here with us and able to come too (and help with Eli and Josh).
Anyway, so Congratulations, Morgan. I knew you could do this and I am so proud of you! I love you!

More Josh

For those who are interested, please visit our Picasa page for more pictures of Josh's first day:

Josh Day 1

Joshua Marlin Lasley

Last night at 7:42 PM CST, Joshua Marlin Lasley was born. The kid was tardy. No, more than tardy - he was late. When he decided to finally come, he really didn't mess around.

Contractions started around 9am, pretty strong and about 10 minutes apart. They became less frequent as the day wore on but started again every 10 minutes when were went to church at 1pm. We came home after church and Morgan broke his fast and he and Eli ate dinner. I had a few croissants but didn't think I should eat too much since I expected to go to the hospital later in the evening.

At home contractions were 5 minutes apart and we started to think about going to the hospital but since Eli took hours to progress once we got to that point I didn't really think that we had any need to hurry. So we sort of moseyed around getting everything together, went and dropped of Eli at the Jolleys and went to the hospital.

We got in about 5:30pm and I was at 4 cm with contractions less than 5 minutes apart. The nurses tried calling my doctor to get me admitted and get him coming. They had no luck getting a hold of the doctor and eventually just took me to a room. They were still trying to get a hold of the doctors and my pain was terrible!

The doctors probably made it there around 7:15 (we had two, my OB was a resident so he was there and then his supervising MD was here also.) Even before they got here the nurse told me that the OB anesthesiologist was busy in an emergency C-section and they were going to try to get the other one to come in, but he lived in Waverly (20+ minutes away) and they would see what they could do. Anyway, the doctors were here, I was at 8-9 cm and they told me it was too late to get an epidural.

I would have to have a Natural childbirth.

Even before this I was having a difficult time. The contractions were right on top of each other, no break room in between. I'm not really a screamer, but I was definitely straining loudly. It seemed to me that the doctors were taking their sweet time washing their hands and getting the gowns, gloves and hats on. I just wanted them to come over tell me I was at 100% and let me push and get the pain over with.

Eventually everyone was ready and after only 4 or so good pushes Joshua was out. And surprisingly I felt really good afterwards. I immediately told Morgan to remind me that feeling good afterwards wasn't worth it, but as the time has worn on I am undecided as to the next child. I have decided to take a Lamaze class or something so that if I do decide to try natural again that I will be better prepared and have some good coping mechanisms. And if the labor is that quick again, I may not have a choice.

September 9th

I had another doctors appointment today. Everything is looking good, my body is getting ready for labor and delivery we just have to wait. They did a non-stress test to make sure that the baby was fine (he is). So right now the plan is to have me go into the hospital on the morning of September 9th to be induced if the baby does not come by then.

Before the doctors appointment I was kind of stressing about what to say to the doctor and how to figure out what the plan was going to be as far as me being over due. I'm seeing a family practitioner resident as my OB so I didn't really think that they had a set "plan" for how to deal with this. But after the exam the doctor went to 'staff' the information and then he came back in and was like - how is your schedule for Tuesday, okay we'll get your induction scheduled for then. So Morgan and I didn't really have a say in it...I'm sure that if we objected they would have listened and we could have talked about everything but I feel good about having this scheduled at this time.

Of course now that we have a "at the latest" date I am starting to feel that maybe the baby will come early. And by early I mean late, but before Tuesday. I'd rather have things start naturally and then take the Pitocin to help it go more quickly but I'm fine with this too.

Sorry if this post is kind of weird and nonsensical. What can I say, I am a loopy 9 month pregnant woman with a 2 year old. And even before I was pregnant I don't think I made much sense.
We'll get pictures posted as soon as we can though so you can see our new addition.

Waiting for Baby

Today is my official due date. At this time with Eli's pregnancy I was in labor...this time little Cochise is taking his sweet time. Granted last time we wanted the baby to come as soon as possible so we were going on walks in the mall often two times a day to try and get labor going and this time we wanted to wait until after Labor Day (for insurance reasons) before I began labor. Now that we are officially covered in Waterloo with insurance I am ready for this baby to come. But today it is too hot and humid to go walking outside and our mall isn't really good for walking. It is mostly a big square and there is a carousel and kiddie playground right in the center. While those don't grab my attention, Eli is slightly enamoured with them.

We did have a great weekend though. Saturday Pete, Emily, Guy and Amy came up and we had a wonderful BBQ with hamburges and bratwurst patties. The guys went disc golfing and the girls sat and chatted. It was fun to show off our house to family.
Sunday we drove to Iowa City so Morgan could stand in the circle for Isabella Ortega's blessing. We only stayed for Sacrament meeting because Morgan had to teach his class for the first time (Sunday School teacher for the youth) and the Nursery put a little concert on for parents and grandparents during the last 15 minutes of church. Eli was really cute but didn't start really singing until the last song. It was still cute.
Monday the Ortegas came up to our place and we had another BBQ and played games and hung out. (Again, the guys went disc golfing.) It was great to see them, we missed them while they were gone for the summer.
And today Shannon came up to spend a few days with us. We are really grateful that she agreed to come up. She is going to be our babysitter for Eli while Morgan and I are in the hospital. Hopefully this baby will come so we can take advantage of her before she has to leave to head to Provo, Utah and the MTC.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

This is Eli and Isaac playing. Isaac liked to knock over the towers with his feet, Eli wasn't too happy about that. Although I think in this picture Eli was saying cheese. Either way, while the boys had a lot of fun together there was also a lot of pushing and crying and getting used to each other again.

This next picture is Eli playing "baseball." Obviously we need to get him better equipment.


And finally, Morgan has been saving up money to buy a disc golf basket. He's saved his allowance, mowed the lawn and sold textbooks online to get enough money and today he picked it up. We've got it set up in the basement. When Eli woke up from his nap we went down stairs and he was so excited when he saw it. He ran straight to it and hung from the rim (just proving to us that we need to make sure it is anchored well.) It is a great basket and I'm sure it will last us throughout our marriage. Now we can practice disc at home (yeah) and inside in the cool basement no matter what the weather is like outside. Horray!