what a blessing!

we sure do LOVE him

so cute even when he's feelin shady

our expanding portfolio

the big family picture

pro sleeper

I really have been doing lots and lots of blogging....

The main problem is that my blogs haven't actually made it onto the computer!

I kinda miss my daily Bloglandia adventures and keeping track of all you lovely people...but alas,

Blogging time has been lovingly replace by this: (cause Dallin loves it more than the average Joe and he's worth it):

And if by chance there is a miracle and all three kiddos are doing this:

I really should be TAKING CARE OF things like this (and all of the other messes around here too):

I had more to share, but the Cradle Swing (aka MAGIC sleep machine) has lost it's powers upon Dallin , Anna is pulling at my leg with an empty cup in her hand crying "DOH" (which means water in her cute 2 yr old voice), and Justin is tearing the box from the new Bumbo into 500 pieces all over the floor and is in need of an escort to time out.

sorry my thoughts are jumbled and just imagine another comment in your comments section until further "adjustments" to 3 kids are made. :) i'm just not so good at typing w/ one hand and find nursing while typing very uncomfortable and not sucha lovly bonding thing.

Dallin is fitting right in....

...but not always comfortably!

Justin is such a proud big brother. Anna is using the "approved" and softest form of contact to insure Dallin's eyes remain intact and un-poked! Good Job Anna!

He loves them too...but is happy mommy is there to offer protection!

You are invited!

It's a BIRTHday party for Dallin!!!

My sister and lovely friend Michelle are throwing a shower to welcome Dallin to the world...

I will have an invitation sent to you if you e-mail me your address!!!
It will be held on:
September 2nd
(Tuesday night 9 days from now.)
I'd love to see you if you live in town, especially if it's been a while!

My e-mail is
morjulie@gmail.com

I've been a bit busy.........but finally have good news to share!

Some force in the cosmos must have read my blog...

HE'S OUT!!!!

and they freed us from the hospital at 11:30 Saturday night!!!!

Dallin John Morris
has arrived and we couldn't be happier!!!!


Born: August 15th, 11:09 p.m.
that's only 51 minutes before my predicted exit date of Aug. 16!

Weight/Height: a pleasant 8 lbs., 4 oz. and 18.5 in. long.


Justin wants to hold him every second of the day...
Anna just can't believe we got to bring him home!!!

Stay tuned for the complete version of this beautiful story....
once I get more of this in:

For The Quote Book...

"Either I'm peeing myself and I can't stop, or my water broke," said Julie!

Baby oh baby!!!!! I'm so excited!!! I'm pretty sure I'm in labor....Expect some cute baby pictures soon!

Brace yourself....

...or just skip this post all together if you are not interested in hearing the ramblings of a very pregnant woman...
There's not a whole lot happening around here other than growing a baby, becoming VERY familiar with the waiting room in the Dr's. office and making sure my kids stay alive. Not much action going on...just lots of thinking. I'm just wondering when I'm going to start the action part!

Some things I've been thinking about lately:

When I will get to take my next nap....
Fatigue is my only pregnancy complaint, so I really shouldn't complain, but it will be nice to have energy once again! Another thing to consider... if I don't get my sleep, you never know what could happen.

My increasingly dirty house....
I'm just wondering when I'm going to actually act on those nesting instincts that are barely starting to come?!?! If it doesn't happen SOON....I'm going to have to shell out the money and hire someone to clean my house!!! Does anyone have a referral for a good cleaning lady ???

Watermelon, glorious watermelon...
I am obsessed with watermelon. I can't eat enough of the stuff! It takes very little effort to prepare....which is probably a very good reason it is so appealing to me. I did actually cut a massive slice off of this for breakfast and then proceeded to mutilate it while "grazing" for much of the morning. Bye the way, I LOVE watermelon right now!

My birth location choice....
Since I've had one mediocre hospital birth experience with Justin at Valley Hospital (not a place I'd recommend if you want to have a natural birth, but it was possible) and a Fabulous home birth with Anna (quite an amazing experience,) I have mixed feelings about giving birth in the hospital this time. I am confident in my ability to give birth and know It will be just fine at home or in the hospital, but think I might miss the intimacy and comfort of home, which I loved. So why am I in the hospital this time? Sad but true, I'm a girl with an eye for a bargain! I was planning on doing a home birth with April Kermani, a well recommend midwife here, until I found out that a hospital birth would only cost me $100 compared to the $3000 for a home birth.....and I met Dr. Steven Harter, who is more open and accepting of woman's choice in birth than any OB/GYN I have ever met. Last week when he approved my Birth Plan with flying colors, it gave me comfort. I've heard that Summerlin is the most accepting of mothers who want to give birth naturally and know I can have a good experience anywhere. I've felt for months that it's an ok choice to make, but still will miss the home birth experience.

i wrote this letter to Kaye Bullock, my midwife for Anna's birth. 

 July 11, 2008 at 10:25pm

I'm a great pregnant lady. Feel great! fatigue is all I have to deal with. I am 90 % sure it will be Dr Harter at Summerlin catching. . w/my insurance that's $100 bucks + marci thomas' doubla fees....April k. costs....$3000 I really like her.though . It stinks that money plays a part.
I have really liked everything he says. Not your average Doctor at all. If he really is true to what he says, he will be great..All I want is to have my way and he seems like he'll agree to any reasonable request. :) I feel well prepared and can have a great birth anywhere...the best is at home, but with a supportive doctor the hospital will do fine. I'll just have to get there on time...one of my concerns. At least I know it will probably go fast.

I still could do homebirth if something didn't feel right...but right now, everything feels peachy.

Whether or not I'll get to use this much...

Anna's birth was so fast that I wonder if I'll actually have enough time to utilize the birth tub I've rented. If I do get to birth in the tub it will be my first water birth. Water birth never actually appealed to me until now, even though I find water extremely relaxing and wonderful so I'm excited to try something new. I like the idea of breaking up standard hospital procedures and am glad that I have a Dr. that will let me use it! When I was speaking with the hospital, they said that Dr. Harter is one of the only ones who even does hospital water birth. I'm very interested to see how it goes, especially compared to my other two births.

When I'm actually going to pack...

So, this isn't actually my bag...it just resembles mine due to the fact that it is EMPTY! I wonder how soon normal people start to pack for the trip to the hospital.

When I will be able to take a nap....

O.k., I did mention this already, I just think about it A LOT!

How sweet my husband is....
For doing this to my sink while I was having a fun night out of the house. OK, OK, my sink wasn't shining like this one, but it had NO dishes in it! I wish I could still say that now....

What the actually size of baby is....
When a well meaning observer comments "Wow, you are huge" or "you look like you are going to pop", it isn't music to my ears to say the least. When my Dr. measured me at 41 weeks today, I didn't like the sound of that either. The ultrasound said yesterday this baby is 95th percentile in weight...Yikes! Who really knows! They told me the day before Justin was induced that he was over 10 lbs and he came out 7.7lbs. I wonder if there is any hope left that Baby will slide out like Anna did at a perfect 7.1 lbs?!? Chubby babies sure are cute though!

And now, the one topic this 37 weeks pregnant lady can't seem to get off her mind....
WHEN MY BABY IS COMING OUT!!!!
It's not that I want the baby out now, I just would like to be informed of WHEN!
I say due date, shmue date....Since I never had a period my due date was only predicted by ultrasound when I was 13 weeks along for Aug. 31. They say that the date is give or take 7 days. So my due date really should be Aug 24 through September 7th. Sigh....Consider the unpredictability of a more accurate due date calculated by the last menstrual period since babies are rarely born on a due date, then add 7 days either way?!? I say, why bother with the date at all! I'm usually a pretty patient person, but the total uncertainty is consuming so much brain power that it is hard to think of anything else! I vote for giving birth August 16th since there is a full moon, if any force in the cosmos cares!

So maybe you'll know some of the answers to my dying questions...
When will my baby be born??
Why is my Dr. going out of town right before my "due date??"
How much sleep is too much?
When am I supposed to get the whole nesting feeling?
Who should I hire to help me clean my dirty house?
Could I put off packing my hospital bag another week?
Has anyone had their baby on the night of a full moon?
Have ultrasound predictions been accurate for you?
Is cankles (calves + ankles ) a real word...because it sure is a real condition!?!?

1 FREE ticket to Travis Tritt....Saturday Night

Only 1 string attached....you get to go with me.
Patrick pleads with you to join me so he doesn't "get" to go.
Be the 1st to comment and you "WIN. "
Call my cell if you are the winner.
P.S. This is for someone I actually know....

No...I did not go on a blogging strike.

Yes...you get to look at our Southern California Vacation Pictures....

I tried to make it as short and sweet as possible!
Here are the highlights.Wednesday
Coronado Beach: Justin's kite flying almost to the hotel while he chased it 5 ft behind It was hilarious...until I realized he was crying. Luckily, after 2 or 3 minutes it crashed! Anna barely touched the water but loved the beach and stared with amazement at the ocean.

Thursday

SanDiego Zoo: Lots and lots and lots of walking, amazing animals, more walking, and a very exhausted pregant mommy!.

Justin was most excited to see the Crocodile and loved petting goats. My favorite: the Orangutans which I watched for half and hour.
Anna spent most of the day asleep in the back of the stroller sick...except when she got to take a bath in the bathroom due to a massive diaper explosion. Thank heavens for the private handicap bathroom with a very large sink....and that I actually brought a change of clothes for once!

Friday

Camping at San Diego Metro K.O.A...at 8 months pregnant, only because I love my blowup mattress!
And of course....IKEA...Again.

Birch Aquarium: Where Justin got to touch a "nice" shark, we saw cool creatures and we spent a long time playing with the water table.

Downtown Disney: Only crazy people visit this place on a Summer Friday Night.

Saturday
L.A. Temple for Steve and Colleen Gurerro's Wedding: What a cute couple they are! We are so happy our sweet friend Steve found such a cute girl. They had such a fun reception. Justin's favorite part was chasing the girls in pretty dresses!

Santa Monica Beach: We can't get enough of the beach...

Sunday....and Monday.
(Hopefully not Tuesday too)
Home Sweet Home...where I am avoiding the not so sweet stuff!
Our poor van: What happens when you go to the beach, camping, a wedding, the zoo, an aquarium, DT Disney and IKEA then get home 2:30 a.m. on Sunday Morning after a nice vacation. I need a vacation!

The car still looks exactly like this...36 hours later. Yikes.

We got a doggie!

We just got the PERFECT dog!!!

Anna absolutely adores dogs. It was one of the 1st fancy words she learned. She squeals with delight whenever we see a picture of a dog. Justin has been asking for a dog since he was 3.
So...You can imagine my excitement when our nice bishop came to our car carrying Frank The Dog... Anna had met frank the day before at our ward 4th of July party and couldn't get enough of him (see pictures from the 4th post.) She hugged, pet and held him for half an hour! The bishop (see picture of him w/a wig on in 4th post too) noticed her excitement and just GAVE Frank to us! Anna has been a happy girl ever since. Justin told me the other day, "We have two pets now. Our dog Frank and fish Jojo."

Here are just some of the reasons I love him so:
(I'm sure there will be more to add to the list the more we get to know him)

He's huggable.
He doesn't shed.
He's house trained and has never lifted his leg on my furniture.
He doesn't bark...ever, so the neighbors love him.
He doesn't get on the furniture unless we put him there.
He has a small appetite.
He's patient.
He is wonderful with children.
He has great breath.
He sleeps in Anna's room when she is lonely.
He's always up to date on needed shots.
He lets Anna drag him around by the ear all day long without a complaint!


I have a bit of a confession to make. I'm sorry to say that it will be a very, very long time before Justin will be able to convince me to get a real dog. I kind of feel bad that I'm not quite up to a real dog. I just don't need one more living thing to clean up after...Do you blame me? Is a real dog worth it??? Plus, after having Frank around, I'm going to have unreasonably high expectations. At least my kids are young and easy to please.

shine

So I got this e-mail from Patrick while he was at work.

Patrick J. Morris

show details Jul 10 (2 days ago)

Reply

Whenever I listen to this song it reminds me of you.

It should be on the computer.

Artist: Mike Oldfield
Song : Shine (extended version)
Album : The Platinum Collection [UK] Disc 3

Love, Patrick

I found the music video and just cracked up! Patrick has very interesting taste in music but this song is the BEST SONG EVER...in a weird, 90's, gold chain wearin', chess playin', cymbals crashing kind of way....! I guess it's my official song now. What a funny husband I have. This was better than a dozen roses...cheaper too! I love you too Patrick!

Patrick J. Morris

Whenever I listen to this song it reminds me of you. It should be on the comp...

Jul 10 (2 days ago)

Patrick J. MorrisLoading...

Jul 10 (2 days ago)

Professional Napper

Recently I started realizing how many pictures I have taken of Anna in a variety of sleeping positions and locations. She can fall asleep just about anywhere. I just love how little ones look when they sleep!

And you know what they say: "let sleeping babies lie..."
(or was it dogs???...Oh well, that's what I say!)

...whether it's at the water park, on the ottoman, on the garage floor, in the easy chair,

at the counter, reading Elmo, snuggled up to a dress-up skirt,

... during lunch, "comfortably" nestled into the baby hiking backpack, at Super Summer Theater, or in the middle of the night after being put to sleep in bed by daddy.

...but I don't know about following that rule,
when it comes to sleeping on the kitchen stool!

UPDATE: New position of the day!

Anna will be offering a seminar "the art of creative sleeping. " for any who are interested, contact her agent.