Halloween in July!

In July, we attended the Lusk Family Reunion at the boat club at Pineview. It had a Halloween theme, so the kids were thrilled to be able to wear costumes and go trick or treating to different camp sites. We always have a fun time at the family reunion!

Updating the blog!

It's been awhile since I've blogged...I guess you can say I've been a little busy! Anyways, these pictures were taken when Sam was about 2 weeks old. My mom stayed with me for almost 3 weeks which was a major blessing for me. I don't think I could have done it without her help, especially since I had to take Sam back and for to the hospital for bilirubin and weight checks for the 1st 2 weeks. I appreciated her help tremendously and Rachel was lucky to have someone to help her those first few weeks while I adjusted to our new life!

Rachel did pretty good with the adjustment, but she constantly wanted to kiss Sam. She only tried to pick him up once and luckily has not tried that since! I had to be aware of her constant move to make sure she stayed away from him, and although the newness has worn off a bit...I'm still telling her to leave him alone! She can be a good helper when I want her to be.

My mom with Sam!

Rachel watching over her new brother!

Sleeping Sam

This picture was taken after Rachel threw a fit about wanting to go swimming with the boys. I talked her into going swimming in the tub, but she insisted she had to wear her "swimmy". She also had a nice rasberry bump on her forehead from climbing out of her crib when I put her in there for throwing a fit. Luckily she hasn't tried that again!

Samuel George

On June 16, 2010 at 7:27 pm we welcomed Samuel George into our family! I was induced that morning probably around 10 am, so I was in labor all day. All in all, it wasn't too bad, but he was a big baby weighing 9 lbs, so he was a little bit harder to push out than the others, but nothing too bad. I am so glad he is here, healthy and well. It feels like our family is complete now! ( I would hope so with 4 kids!!!!) It has been quite an adjustment for us all, but it's been 3 1/2 weeks now and I sort of feel like I'm coming out of the baby fog....but I think it usually takes 2-3 months to feel somewhat normal again...if that's at all possible!

Right out of the womb
22 inches long

9 lbs even! Just for the record, he lost 13 ounces total after being born and is still fighting to get back to his birth weight. He's probably there after 3 1/2 weeks, but we still have to go back next week for another weight check. He's been a fussy nurser so I pump and bottle feed him...so I know he should be getting plenty!

Skin to skin?????? I guess now a days they urge you to immediately bond with your child by warming them with your body. They would assess him right on top of you if you want...but I opted for them to check him out first, clean him and weigh him before we bonded. Maybe it's just me, but I'm not too fond of the slimy,bloody baby!

Rachel wasn't quite sure of the whole hospital experience. She didn't really know how to act around mom. She did like seeing the baby and hasn't stopped loving him since...( a little too much if you ask me!)

Visiting mom at the hospital. Rachel really wasn't that grumpy, she just doesn't really know how to pose for pictures!

A great picture of the four. Rachel was being silly and had the boys laughing!

Lucas is always willing to hold the baby. It is a great help to have extra hands to hold Sam when needed!

His cheeks were pretty full when he was born. They've since slimmed out..but are slowly returning!

Riding home from the hospital. Just a side note...not too long before this we made his name official before leaving the hospital. It was such a hard decision for us...neither of us could agree on any name. On our white board in our room....we had 6 names listed...Samuel, Joshua, Matthew, Elijah, Thomas, and Isaac. One by one we started crossing them off...until only Samuel and Matthew were left. After much debate...we finally picked Samuel..probably because I liked it most!

Defeating jaundice.,..he went home on the lights but we only lasted about 2 days in the light bed. Luckily his levels weren't too high and they let us just use this blanket that wraps around his belly because the bed is so miserable to use. It just took longer to get rid of and he lasted 2 full weeks on the bili blanket and frequent trips to the hospital to get his bilirubin checked. It always makes it harder when you have to go back and forth to the hospital those first couple of weeks. Luckily my mom was staying with me to help with my kids so they didn't have to come with me!

San Diego Zoo

I never did the last post to our San Diego trip in April. Shows you how much of a slacker I am...but I just really haven't felt like it. Anyways, we went to the zoo one day while we were there....along with thousands of other people! It was kind of hot and crowded so it was hard to get up close to the animals. But we experienced the San Diego Zoo and can check that off our list of things to do when we visit San Diego! Here are a few pictures I would like to remember....Ben and Lucas actually took my camera and took a ton of pictures of the animals...but nothing too exciting to post!

Whale Watching and Ruby's at the Pier

One day while on our trip, we decided to try something we'd never done before and go whale watching. It was a 2 hour boat ride that took us out onto the ocean to look for migrating whales. We lucked out on out trip seeing 3 different kinds of whales...a Minke whale, Gray whale, and a Fin Back Whale. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a great time...except maybe for Rachel who wasn't sure about the rocking motion of the boat.

Rachel was a little anxious about the whole boat experience, but it actually made the trip so much easier because all she wanted to do was be held. Otherwise...I'm sure she would have been wanting to be all over the boat! Zac and I took turns holding her and were actually able to enjoy the trip!

My mom and Ally hanging out on the boat!

Ben at the very front making sure he could see everything.

Lucas watched from the front the whole time as well.

Lucas and his cousin Paige


After whale watching, we drove to one of our favorite places to eat in Oceanside...Ruby's on the pier. It's a restaurant at the very end of the pier so you have to walk a ways to get there. We met up with all my other siblings and kids as not everyone was able to go whale watching. This picture is Cami, Ben, and Max. It was quite an exciting dinner with 10 kids and 11 adults!

Lucas and Paige

A huge pelican just hanging out where people like to catch fish off the pier. I'm sure he's hoping to catch some too!

Lucas and Cami posing with the pelicans. We later found out that one of the pelicans has sort of a mean streak, so luckily he didn't try anything with these two!

We all had a great day on the ocean and at the pier. The kids even saw dolphins swimming along the pier, so that made their day of animal watching quite eventful!

Easter Afternoon

Easter was a nice and relaxing day because we got to listen to Conference...or at least tried to listen with kids running around! After Conference, while waiting for more family to arrive for dinner, the most exciting thing happened that day for my kids is that they experienced their first earthquake. We felt it pretty strong where we were( it happended in Mexico, and we were probably about 60 miles or so from the epicenter), but luckily it wasn't strong enough to cause anything to fall from the walls or anyone to get hurt. We all did run outside though and I had Zac wake Rachel from her nap because it kind of kept going and you never know if it's going to get worse. Anyways, it was definately something my kids will remember...I think Ben was spooked the most saying it was his worst Easter ever! Luckily they all slept through the few aftershocks that I felt later in the night!

Here are pictures from the Easter Egg hunt outside with all the cousins. Luckily there were enough eggs for all the kids to find plenty....even the eggs with money!
Aunt Ally brought Easter bunnies for all the little girls. Rachel still likes to sleep with hers!

Easter Morning

This year we headed down to San Diego to spend Easter and Spring Break. We figured it would give the kids something fun to do while they were out of school. It's a good thing the Easter Bunny is kind of like Santa Claus and always knows where to find the kids! We actually had two Easter Egg hunts...one in the morning with just our kids, then later in the afternoon all of the cousins came over to my mom's and found all the eggs hidden outside. It's always fun to visit when we get to see all our family! Here are some pictures of Easter Morning:

Getting ready for the big hunt

A beaver webkinz for Ben in his basket

I think I have a picture of all my kids at this age holding up an egg, wondering what this whole tradition is about!

She realized there was candy in the eggs and started eating right away!
There were many new places for the Easter Bunny to hide eggs at Grandma's house!

Ben...still not too old to look for eggs!

Posing for the camera!

Lucas discovering Peeps in his basket

A nice close-up of Lucas' face after he had fallen on my mom's treadmill the day before...thus proving my point that kids shouldn't play on treadmills! Maybe he will listen to me now!

Ben Turns 10!

Ben celebrated his 10th birthday on March 24. This year was a "party" year for him, so he got to invite some friends and we went to Boondocks where they did the go-karts and laser tag. We all had a great time celebrating Ben's birthday! I just can't believe he is already 10!