Skylar's Baby Blessing

Skylar had her baby blessing last Sunday, August 29. We had it that day since Mike would be traveling the next few Sundays. There were actually 3 babies blessed that day in our ward. All of them were very nice blessings.

Mike blessed her and talked a little about the traits of her grandma Cecil, whom she gets her middle name from. Mike and I wanted to name her after my mom but had disagreeing opinions on the actual name. So, we ended up compromising on a name that is a variation of Cecil...Cecily. Mike really liked Cece but I thought that it sounded like too much of a nickname rather than a "real" name.

Skylar wore the same dress that Bailey was blessed in...10 years later. I got this dress as a gift from my good friend Ali Thomander, who got it while on her mission in Belgium 17 years ago! What a cute friend to give such a thoughtful gift way back then! Thank you Ali!!! It is still beautiful.

As you can see, Skylar was the perfect angel on her blessing day and slept like a perfect angel though the entire blessing.



This is my good friend Catherine Barlow's baby boy Matthew. We decided to take a photo with the 2 babies together so we can show it to everyone on their wedding day...at their arranged marriage! :)



This was my good friend Catherine's last Sunday at church before moving back to the U.S. so we took a couple of photos out in front of the church on Sunday. She is one of my favorite peeps in Singapore so I wanted a photo with her and, of course, my other favorite girlies in Singapore!!! She's the kind of friend that makes living far from home not so bad. She's super fun and I look forward to seeing her every summer on our home leaves.

Sky High

Sky High, Sky's the Limit, Excuse me while I kiss the sky, Pie in the Sky, Sky Miles. These are some of the endearing terms I've found myself saying to Skylar. I don't know if she appreciates it but she hasn't gotten too mad about it yet.

Here she is surrounded by the flowers, balloons and gifts that were sent to her when she arrived home from the hospital. They were almost all from Mike's colleagues, Mike's boss in the U.S. and others who Feld Entertainment does business with in Singapore.







Of all our kids Carson has definitely showed the most interest in Skylar. He kissed and hugged my tummy everyday when I was pregnant. Now he kisses and hugs and picks up Skylar more than anyone. He loves her and is always breaking the rules about carrying her when he's just supposed to hold her while sitting on the couch.






Sometimes I'll walk into a room and find Skylar and Carson all snuggled up together just like this:




Here's Sky at 1 month old!



She is a happy baby so far. Everything seems to be working properly. The most memorable day with her so far is probably the day when I was changing her diaper on my bed and poo shot out everywhere...all over my white pants, all over the bed and all over the surrounding vicinity. It also seems that she pees whenever I am in the middle of a diaper change, causing me to throw out 2 diapers and having to wash the couch or sheets or wherever we are changing her diaper. I'm extra alert now in her diaper changes to avoid disasters...especially during the middle of the night changes.

Skylar Cecily Daynes

Beautiful Skylar Cecily Daynes joined our family on July 31, 2010 at 7:31p.m. We are completely feeling the love and are eating up this yummy baby.



Getting ready to go home...cousin Jessica Daynes and sister Bailey are standing by to help with whatever baby Sky needs for the trip home.



Here's a look at Baby Skylar's visitors while still in the hospital:

Marnelie and her boyfriend Nasir:



Jane (Nonnie/Grandma/Mike's mom):



Big Bro. Carson:



Big Sis. Bailey:




Sammy's friend Holly Lesser:



Big Bro. Jack:



Cousin Jessica:



Big Sis. Sammy:



Dad Mike:



Here's Baby Skylar getting her measurements shortly after being born:



Here's the first photo of Baby Skylar just seconds after her birth: The dr. handed her to me right away for the skin to skin contact. She was crying a bit but nothing too dramatic. This is when we counted her fingers and toes and marveled at her beauty. I instantly noticed that she had Carson's nose and the same amount of dark hair that all of our other babies have had at birth, plus the line on her chin that many of her siblings have, and, of course, the Daynes head shape.

Skylar: We instantly loved you that second that you were handed to us. Even though this is the fifth time that we've experienced a birth...it was like it was the first. You are a miracle and we are so in love with you. Welcome to our family...we hope you love us as much as we are loving you!!!

Why I'll Never Be Pregnant Again...

Need I say more????

Some awful person took these photos (without my permission) and e-mailed them to me. I'm just wondering where my boobs are? I thought I still had a trace of them but according to this photo they just don't exist anymore...huh.

I think I'll just write down a few reasons why I'll never be prego again...just in case I have some type of memory lapse in the future. I'll try to limit it to 10 but I think I could probably write a lot more! This is why journaling is so important, right? So history doesn't repeat itself.

Here goes:

1. I can't sleep. I mean really. I have a hard time falling asleep, I wake up a bunch of times every night and can't get back to sleep, sleep is not my friend right now at all. I am actually up writing this at 6:00am while my kids are still asleep when I could just be sawing some logs right this very second!!!

2. Gestational Diabetes. While I've never experienced this in any of my other pregnancies and feel grateful for that...I've had to deal with it this pregnancy. Although it's actually been a blessing in disguise for keeping me ultra healthy this pregnancy it's also been a huge pain! I miss chocolate cake and chocolate-chip cookies and have decided that I am just not complete without them in my life.

3. Ears clogged. How weird is that? Most of this pregnancy my ears have been clogged like when you have a bad cold. When I talk it sounds all echoey to me and I feel like I'm asking everyone around me to repeat everything that they say.

4. Summer Vacation Cut Short. I love my 2 1/2 months in the U.S. every year and that was cut way short this year. We went to Seattle on June 4 and it was cold, then to San Fran on June 18 and it was cold and then I came back to Singapore alone without my family. Although it all turned out fine it was not my favorite summer and I never want to have a baby in the summer again! (5 babies born in 5 summers is enough!!!)

5. Spider Veins. Just when I thought I couldn't get any more of these unsightly beasts here they are just cropping up all over my otherwise cute legs...one of my best features. Wonder how much it's going to cost me to get those removed after this pregnancy, not too mention dealing with the procedure, etc. Ho hum. This post is really getting depressing!

6. "Creatures" in my throat. I've had weird, white creatures living in my throat this whole pregnancy also. I'm definitely fighting off something but very slowly. As soon as the creatures disappear, new ones take their place. I've had this problem for years with my throat but it is magnified big time this pregnancy.

7. Swollen ankles. This could be worse and actually has only been back a handful of days during this pregnancy but the days that I have them I cannot stand the feeling. Ick!

8. Acne. Irritability. Don't think either of these need any explanations.

9. The actual delivery of the baby and the recovery afterwards. And the work of trying to get back into shape. Oh man...this could entail a list of 10 more reasons not to ever do this again!

10. 5 is a great number!

Although I have to admit now that this pregnancy has actually not been too terrible...for a 38 year-old even, and I'm sure it will all be worth it when that darling little girl joins our family but it hasn't been a hayride that's for sure!!!

Bintan, Indonesia

Mike did a triathlon in Bintan on Saturday. He took Jack over for a boys night on Friday and I stayed with the other 3 kids so that...Carson could play his last t-ball game, Bailey could play her last softball game and Sammy could play her last 2 basketball games.

This is my gang on the ferry from Singapore to Bintan: It's only an hour long high- speed ferry ride.



This is where we sat for a while waiting to take the bus to the Nirwana Gardens: We chose to stay at this resort b/c it was the location for the start and finish of the tri's.



Hurry up bus! Mike's race had actually already started by this point so we were hoping to catch him on the bike and the run portions of the race.



Here's Mike at dinner with his fellow racers and some "cheerios" the night before the race:



This is the starting line for the race...the night before.



Saturday morning; my girlie friends getting pumped up for their race - the Sprint. This is the race I was hoping to do before I became prego. (I think it's probably good I had an out...don't know if I would have been able to keep up with these TOUGH girls!!!)



Can you feel the tension? Don't you love the surroundings?





Mike - before his race. His race was the Olympic Distance and it started at 2:00pm. So, first he swam...



Then he biked. Not sure how in the name of Corn on the Cob he found his bike in that mess...



Somehow he does...and then they ride.




And then he ran...uphill and downhill and right past our Villa - which was super convenient for us cheerios.



Here's Jack & Bailey on the front porch of one of our villas. Jack kept referring to the villa as "our new house." Jack is the only one I know who is OK with the Indonesian standard of cleanliness in hotels...at least it's a step up from Malaysia.




It was also great that the kids could play in the ocean directly in front of our villas - in between their cheerleading efforts for Mike & friends.







This is how all the guys looked in the finishing area...they all look great considering the heat and what they've just accomplished. Anybody want to do it again???



Carson & Jack entertained each other at the finish line with a game where Carson jumps with his entire body on top of Jack. Isn't there a triathlon we can sign them up for or something???



Buffet dinner in the restaurant after the race. Food was terrible but the company was divine!!! Don't we have the coolest friends?

Winding down to summer

It is that crazy time of year when my kids have invitations to birthday parties galore, all of the last field days are happening, parent-teacher conferences, end of year parties, moving away parties, goodbye lunches, last sports games, end of year banquets and trying to get packed for summer vacations. There's a lot going on!

My next few blog posts contain a few things that I've been able to capture over the last couple of weeks as the school year is wrapping up:

COCO CHANEL - Here's a couple of photos of Bailey doing her final report for 4th grade. She was able to choose who she wanted to do a biography report about and dress as that person for 2 days while giving her report to her fellow 4th graders, parents and teachers. She chose Coco Chanel.



(Giving her report to a classmate)



Here is Coco with her signature "Little Black Dress", stylish hat, pearls galore and even a Chanel purse in tow. On her desk was a display of pearls, Chanel perfumes and hats like those Coco may have worn.

We wanted to curl her hair like Coco's but since she had swimming in p.e. that day directly before her report we decided hair curling wasn't happening...but she did scrunch her hair a bit so she'd have a few waves in honor of her mentor!

Next time you see Bailey ask her to give you her report on Coco!!!