Coming to you live from Springville, Utah...it's Friday Night!

(ok...so it's a little late and I'm feeling a little corny)

That's right, we're finally in Utah for the holidays. We drove straight through on Wednesday. Spending 18 hours in the car with three kids, three and under (including a newborn) is never fun, but it wasn't too too bad overall. Mostly we're just excited to be here. Ezra can't get enough of the snow and Georgia is s.l.o.w.l.y. warming up to everyone (just don't look at her wrong or she'll give ya the cold shoulder). Before things get really crazy during Christmas, I thought I'd give ya'll a quick little filler post and show you what we've been up to.

Apparently, this is what Spencer and the kids get up to when I'm gone. The crazy thing is, he actually got them to pose for these pictures...with the timer no less! Someone explain to me, please, how I can't get them to pose for a single cute Christmas Card picture in their church clothes and he gets them to wait for the timer to go off with matching poses and underwear on their heads. Someone got it wrong-blondes don't have all the fun. Dads do.

gee, I wonder where my children get their big ol' tongues from?

They even took the time to change underwear for this one

Last Saturday, we went to the Chickasha Festival of Lights with my sister Stephanie and her cute little family. It was so beautiful and Ezra, especially, was thrilled with all the lights. It was well worth the drive (an hour and a half) and definitely got us all in the Christmas spirit.

The little ones all bundled up and ready to go

I rarely like pictures of myself. For some reason, this one struck my fancy so I thought I'd post it.

We kept on trying to get all of the kids to look at the camera and smile for a group picture. Ella was the only one cooperating, so she's the one who got her picture taken.

Take note:

This is one extremely rare pictures of just Spencer and me since our wedding.

I thought it was kinda cute.

(thanks Steph!)

I'm going to make an effort to post pictures of vacation while actually on vacation, so that ya'll won't get picture overload when we get home. Here's hoping I actually do it! Have a fabulous day!

Kansas City, mogli children, and John Denver

Ev'rythin's up to date in Kansas City
They've gone about as fur as they c'n go!

After gobs of resumes, interviews, and a few offers, Spencer has accepted a job offer in Kansas City with the consulting firm, Burns & McDonnell. Both Spencer and I are really excited about the job and uber-excited about the location (it's right on the border between Missouri and Kansas). It's a beautiful city, both the city itself and the area, environment-wise. As an added bonus, it's only a 4-5 hour drive away from my family in Oklahoma and significantly cuts down the time it takes to get to Spencer's family in Utah. So, come June this summer, we'll be living in be-u-tiful Kansas City!

Yes sir, that's my baby
No sir, I don't mean maybe

Scarlett had her blessing last Sunday. It went really well-she looked absolutely beautiful and was wide awake for the entire blessing, just looking around without a peep. Unfortunately, I didn't get any really great pictures of her, but that seems to be the pattern when it comes to blessing pictures for me. I even attempted to take a picture of all three of the kids by myself (Spencer was still at church doing his calling), but that didn't turn out too fabulous either...

(note: these were taken post-church, so everyone looks a little wrinkled and mogli-like)

Country roads, take me home

To the place where I belong

West Virginia, mountain momma

Take me home, country roads

I was looking at Georgia this morning and noticed something...when her hair is all flat from being slept on, my daughter resembles John Denver. It's more than a little disconcerting that my daughter looks like some old guy from the '70s.

=

Why I Do It

Ezra has thrown up at least 17 times in a 14 hour period of time.

Georgia is on the mend from a month long diaper rash, bad to the point of bloodiness.

Scarlett has yet another cold...

however, she also smiled at me for the first time, making it all so worth it.

They're not *just* songs

I was thinking while in the shower the other day about my blog (the shower's where I come up with a lot of my posts, actually) and my thoughts eventually led to my playlist. My playlist is filled with my favorite songs-songs that move me, songs with stories behind them, and songs that have been stuck in my head for the last decade. When I added a playlist to my blog, I intended to give ya'll a glimpse into my head and my life, but I realized somewhere between the lathering, rinsing, and repeating, that to you...they're just songs. You don't know whether I posted a song because it changed my life or if it is simply on this week's Top 40. So, I thought I'd take a few of the songs off my playlist and explain to ya'll what exactly they mean to me. I know, it's a little egocentric to assume any of you even care, but indulge me (you are, after all, reading *my* blog)...

PS~For your convenience, I've posted a playlist of these specific songs off to the side of the post so you'll be able to follow along if you so desire.

Wildflowers by Tom Petty
Spencer gave me a burned cd of songs that reminded him of me while we were dating. This song was on it. Whenever I feel old and frumpy, I turn this on and it reminds me of the girl I used to be and who I know is still there somewhere.

Hips Don't Lie by Shakira and Pour Some Sugar On Me by Def Leppard
Who doesn't need a couple of incredibly sexy songs to dance around to in the kitchen?

Bubble Toes by Jack Johnson
Favorite. song. ever. 6 years in counting and hasn't been topped yet.
Incidentally, it also reminds me of my nephew Greyson who actually *does* have bubble toes.

Sweetness by Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World=High School.

Cherry, Cherry by Neil Diamond
This is one of my favorite songs of all time. While it's mostly true that Spencer led me to the Neil Diamond light, this one was around for me long before he was.

Hot 'N' Cold by Katy Perry
This song reminds me of Spencer when we were dating. Mean, I know, yet oh-so-true. For those of you who knew us while dating or have heard the stories, you'll know what I'm talking about. Incidentally, it reminds Spencer of the type of music that was popular while he served his mission in Russia (it's the techno feel to it).

Is There Life Out There by Reba McEntire and New Soul by Yael Naim
You know when you hear a song and you just recognize yourself in it? That's exactly what happened when I heard both of these songs for the first time. I hear them and can't help but say, "that's me" for completely different reasons.

Come A Little Bit Closer by Tony Orlando & Dawn
This one's for you, Lib.

Stacey's Mom by Fountains of Wayne and Hot Mama by Trace Adkins
On those down days when all you can do is compare yourself to the tan 'n' toned co-eds, just jack these up and you won't be able to stop from feeling like one hot mom yourself.

Better Life by Keith Urban and Forever In Blue Jeans by Neil Diamond
I just can't help but relate to these songs. They're my life. One of these days we'll graduate, eventually make decent money, and move on, but I'm sure going to enjoy myself in the meantime.

Thanks for humoring me. Hopefully you at least kinda enjoyed the music along the way. Have a fabulous day!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Here's what we've been up to lately...

HALLOWEEN!!!

Ezra as our little train conductor:

Georgia made a very pretty fairy princess:

(Aren't the tutus adorable? My sister, Stephanie, my mom, and I were feeling kinda crafty one day and decided to make them. Also, a big shout out to Steph who made the flower crowns while I was in the hospital with Scarlett!)

Georgia and her be-u-tiful cousin, Ella

First Bath!

Thank you Mimi for the cute purple hippo towel!

(I know, I know, not the best picture in the world, but she was really squirmy, so we weren't getting any fabulous ones. )

Family Home Evening on Noah and the Ark

(FYI-We're making banana boats in these pictures)

(that's some bad, bad hair, isn't it...)

Georgia picked out all the chocolate chip and marshmallow "passengers" and left the banana pieces behind :P

Getting to dress up in fun new clothes!

Thank you, Auntie Libby for the friggin' adorable outfit! Scarlett might not look it in this picture, but she was practically dancing with excitement at your fabulous taste.

Happy (late) Birthday, Ezra Emil!

On October 23rd, my little Ezra turned a very big 3 years old. I can't even believe that he has gotten so big, so very, very fast. Ezra came into the world wiggling and wailing and hasn't changed much since.

In the weeks leading up to Ezra's birthday, I often asked him what he wanted for his birthday. Ezra, having a vague idea of what a birthday entails, informed me that he wanted to blow out candles and open a red present with Skittles in it, which are good for his tummy (Ezra-speak for an allergy-safe food). This is *all* he wanted, which he repeated many times over. Spencer, for one, was ecstatic because he assumed this got him off the hook for giving anything more to his first-born than a pack of 97 cent Skittles. Luckily for Ezra, I had bigger plans for his birthday.

On the long-awaited day, Ezra started off bright and early at preschool. There, they had their annual Harvest Fest, which Ezra assumed, as any egocentric 3 yr old would, was completely for him. Following this, they sang Happy Birthday to him, gave him a construction paper crown, and gave him some Skittles for part of his snack. After I picked up Ezra from school, he was very excited to tell me how his birthday went, thinking that was the beginning and end of the celebrations. It was quite the task to convince him that his birthday actually lasted all. day. long. *gasp*

After preschool, we went up to my Mom's house to spend the day and get ready for the evening's celebrations. Ezra got to help me make his cupcakes (he requested cupcakes instead of an actual cake, which was a-okay with me) and after they cooled, he and his cousin, Greyson, got to decorate some of them with sprinkles. Later, Ezra, Cooper (another cousin), and Greyson helped us make cheese-less pizzas for dinner.

Ezra and Greyson working studiously

There's that "cheese" face again...it's startin' to get a little old

After we had pizza for dinner, it was the long-awaited present-opening time. The kid made a haul. I'm not quite sure how it happened. I really didn't intend to spoil him rotten, I think I just don't really buy any toys the rest of the year, so they all have to be stuffed into his birthday and Christmas *shrug*

On to the orgy of gift-opening...

And, of course, the beloved Skittles...

After all the presents were finally opened, we ended the night with cupcakes, Luigi's Italian Ices, and Philly Swirls.

Happy Birthday, my wonderful Ezra! I can't imagine my life without you and I certainly wouldn't want to. You are my very special Ezra Sunshine and I love you with my everything.

Waiting on The World to Change

Me and all my friends

We're all misunderstood

They say we stand for nothing and

There's no way we ever could

Now we see everything is going wrong

With the world and those who lead it

We just feel like we don't have the means

To rise above and beat it

So we keep waiting

Waiting on the world to change

We keep on waiting

Waiting on the world to change

It's hard to beat the system

When we're standing at a distance

So we keep waiting

Waiting on the world to change

Now if we had the power

To bring our neighbors home from war

They woulda never missed a Christmas

No more ribbons on the door

When you trust your television

What you get is what you got

'cause when they own the information ooohhh,

They can bend it all they want...

One day our generation

Is gonna rule the population

So we keep on waiting

Waiting on the world to change

Now we keep on waiting

Waiting on the world to change

We keep on waiting

Waiting on the world to change

John Mayer

Waiting on the World to Change

Change has come...and I, for one, can't wait.

You knew it was coming...

Introducing

Scarlett Caroline Lifferth

Born October 28th, 2008

9:31pm

6lb 12oz

19 3/4 in

We welcomed the newest addition to our family on Tuesday night. Ezra and Georgia have both adjusted fairly well and love to give their little sister lots of pats and kisses. I'm doing just fine and have recovered well. I'm no where near adjusted to having three kids, but I assume that's something that comes with time...it does, right? Please tell me it does. Scarlett is just beautiful. She has lots of dark hair and those beautiful trademark Lifferth fingers and nails (look at Spencer's or his sister Heather's hands if you don't know what I'm talking about). I think she looks a lot like Ezra, only girlified and darkened, hence a lot like Spencer...or more accurately, Heather, who looks like a feminine version of Spencer. Scarlett's been a fairly easy baby so far and is a champion nurser. We'll see how long that lasts as she gets older. She just might end up a diva like her older sister. It's hard to believe there's now five of us in our little family, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

The proud new daddy

The necessary disgruntled old man picture

I love this picture because it shows all of her dark hair

Ezra and Georgia checking out their new sib':

(gotta love those scrunchy, odd-looking newborn expressions;)

Right before we left the hospital

This was taken yesterday afternoon after most of her swelling has gone down, so it's a pretty accurate idea of what she really looks like

For those who like all the gory details...

...here's the birth story.

I woke up on Tuesday contracting about every 10minutes so. They were intense-ish all day, but weren't progressing very quickly, so I wasn't too worried about things. I figured I was in actual labor, but I have a tendency to putter during labor, so I was just going about business as usual. Anyway, about 5:00ish that evening, I started seriously timing my contractions and realized they were speeding up fairly quickly. I started packing up the kids to go with my mom to her house and getting stuff for the hospital and by the time I left, my contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart and were hurting a lot. They continued to get more intense on the drive down to the hospital (about an hour away), but actually spread out in time to about 6 minutes apart. I was paranoid about going into the hospital and having contractions that far apart, so I convinced Spencer to pick up some dinner for himself and fill up the car with gas before we parked at the hospital. I considered stopping at the mall to walk around for a bit-thank heavens we didn't or I definitely would've had a baby there. When we parked they were still 6 minutes apart. My doctor suspects at that point in time, I was probably dilated to a 4/5. Because I wanted to give my contractions a chance to speed up, I had Spencer park in the parking garage (rather than do valet parking at the front of the hospital) and walk to the hospital with me (it's about a 5 minute walk while not in labor). As soon as we started walking (especially w/two flights of stairs ), my contractions sped up like crazy. When I checked in at labor and delivery, it was exactly 8:32pm and my contractions hurt like heck, but I was surprisingly managing them really well. I think it's because I seriously thought I had like 6 hours of labor ahead of me, so I kept on comparing them to how much more intense they'd be getting, if that makes any sense. Anyway, they put me in triage and the nurse checked me and lo and behold, I was fully dilated. So, I had dilated from a 5ish all the way to a 10 in the time it took me to walk from the car to labor and delivery. That was a very. long. painful. walk. Anyway, right after she checked me in triage, I started to feel a little pushy. They immediately moved me over to a delivery room and called my doctor, who arrived all out of breath about 10 minutes later. I couldn't hold back any longer so I started pushing soon after the doctor got there and two contractions later, we had a baby. I was lucky and didn't have anything more than a little skid mark. Scarlett was officially born at 9:31, so about an hour after we got to the hospital. The pushing was by far the most painful part for me. The contractions were very intense, but I just focused on breathing and relaxing my way through them and I somehow was able to stay on top of them pretty well. The pushing...well, let's just say I was glad it only lasted for like five minutes, although I was at least crowning for nearly all of it, so that probably didn't help things any. After birth, however, I just felt so fabulous. I couldn't even believe how great I felt, both physically and emotionally. It was such a high and it was so nice not to have to deal with everything that comes with an epidural and tearing and all that. 4 days post birth, I seriously feel almost completely normal.

Since Scarlett descended so quickly, there was loads of mucus still in her lungs when she was born (because it didn't have a chance to get squeezed out in the birth canal), so after the first initial holding and cord-cutting, the nurses and pediatrician started to suck out the mucus and fluid. That took about 30-45 min because they were having a hard time keeping her blood-oxygen levels up. They suspected that part of the problem was how upset she was, so they had me nurse her skin to skin. That calmed her right down and helped loads with her blood-oxygen levels. Other than that, however, she was just fine at birth, w/apgar scores of 8 and 9 (all the points taken off were for color-she was VERY blue at birth, despite being alert and active).

Well, that's it in all the gory details. For all the childbirth veterans out there, hope you enjoyed!

Let's pencil ya in, shall we?

This, my fellow bloggers, is what happens when one has access to a computer on waaay too little sleep thanks to too much caffeine, an aching pregnant body, and a sick kiddo who still perversely gets up at 7:00am...

Dear Baby,

Please don't come anytime soon. While I know you wouldn't usually hear many *very* pregnant mommies say this to your comrade fetuses (or is it feti...wait, isn't that a party or something? Nope, that's fete, I checked.), I really, really don't want you to come anytime soon. Or really anytime within the next 3 weeks. See, things are just crazy-busy around here for the next bit.

Your dad and I just bought a used dresser for $10 at a garage sale (yay! for good deals) which we promptly spent another $30 on for pink paint and new knobs (not so thrifty, but still yay! for fabulous refurbished furniture). So...we have that to quickly try to finish.

Your Aunt Heather is coming to visit on the 15th (next Wednesday) and she'll be here until the 21st. We have loads to do while she's here, like the OSU Homecoming, and going shopping, and visiting the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial, and going shopping. I don't think either Heather or I would be very pleased if you arrived in the middle of all that and ruined the plans. Although I suspect Grandma (that would be Dad's mom) would probably be insanely jealous of Heather's good luck in coming out when she did.

Immediately following Heather's departure on the 21st, Daddy and I have the loooong-awaited Neil Diamond concert to go to. I spent a fair amount of money on the tickets last May for Dad's birthday and we really don't want to miss it. Plus...who would we give the tickets to? Nobody who'd cherish them like we would, that's for sure. I suspect they're all a bunch of Brother Neil Unappreciaters out here.

The 23rd is Ezra's 3rd birthday and while HE might think you'd be a super-cool birthday gift, how would I possibly find the time to bake, frost, and arrange 2 dozen allergy-friendly cupcakes while in labor (I'm supposed to relax and concentrate on my breathing, remember)? Not to mention I have to go to the Harvest Festival at his preschool on the same day.

On the 24th is the uber-fabulous Affair of the Heart (I know you're not familiar with the ginormous craft fair in OKC, but give it a while, you will be ;). It's the last chance Mommy will get for a completely baby-free day for a very. long. time. Sooo, it'd appear that week is completely out of commission. Which, really, is probably a good thing because my doctor is going to be out of town anyway.

That leaves the next week, during which I will probably be running around getting costumes ready for Trunk or Treat on the 30th and Halloween on the 31st, since I can never seem to just *buy* a costume like any other normal, sane, 9 months pregnant woman (normal...sane...pregnant woman, huh? I dare you to find even one). I suppose it might not be the end of the world if you came that week, but Halloween is my 2nd favorite holiday and I'd be really bummed if I missed out on the kids' trick or treating because I was in labor in the hospital. Heck, I wouldn't even get any candy 'cause all I'd have to eat is stupid ice chips. Who wants ice chips when there's gobs of chocolate to protect your allergic children from? Not me, that's who.

So, dear little one, that leaves us the following week. Since I've hit that not-so-fun, uber-uncomfortable stage (ya know the one-where every smile is really a hidden grimace), I'm thinkin' there's no need to go very far into it at all. How's November 1st looking for you? It's sure looking good from this angle, so why don't I pencil you in? I figure all that trekkin' around the night before can put me into labor and we can pop you out by the morning of the 2nd at the latest. While Mimi (my mom, remember?) just cackled when she heard I was 1.5cm dilated and 50% effaced at yesterday's doctor visit and Daddy just groaned as he still has so much to do before you get here, I have complete faith in you to make the right decision and come when you're told to, as any good obedient baby would.

With all the love in my heart and the aches in my over-burdened joints,

Your Mommy

PS-don't worry, I told Daddy that being minorally dilated isn't unusual at all and doesn't indicate much when it comes to delivery dates. He's just being a guy (which I realize might not mean much to you at this point in time, but don't worry, it will ;).

Post-Craft Blitz Catch-Up

Sorry for the hiatus. We had our Relief Society Craft Blitz (or Super Saturday for you Utahns) on September 20th. Being the RS 2nd Counselor, this was a HUGE deal to me and had been looming over my head for months. Let's just say that getting ready for the upcoming birth (and early life) of the new baby has been 20 times less stressful than planning for Craft Blitz. So, the last month has been spent in getting ready for Craft Blitz, attending Craft Blitz and recovering in a near comatose-state post-Craft Blitz. My apologies for my shoddy blogging.

First off, Spencer recently competed in a sprint triathlon. It was a half-mile swim, a 5k run, and a 21 mile bike ride. He came in at just under 2 hours. Spence even talked my little brother, Mackenzie, into doing it with him and they trained together leading up to the Tri. Mack did really well too, especially considering it was his first triathlon. We're really proud of both of them! Sorry we didn't get any pictures of Mack. Our camera was on the fritz (as usual) and wasn't taking pictures as well as I had hoped.

Spence post-Tri (gotta love the sweaty helmet hair)-he wanted me to note that he was wheeling his bike right then, so he doesn't normally hunch funny ;)

Ezra loved watching from the sidelines. It didn't matter who it was coming through the finish line, he was there cheering for them every step of the way.

Georgia, on the other hand, spent most of her time running around, looking mowgli-ish. It was all we could do to keep her off the road where all the bikers were :P

Also, as I alluded previously, our camera finally died...well, it still *kinda* worked, but only actually took pictures half the time. With the new baby arriving sometime within the next month, we figured that a brand-spankin' new camera was ripe for the pickin'. Introducing...our new Sony Cyber-shot W150. It comes with all these fancy features...but I'm just glad it's pretty quick on the draw. With two (almost three) very little ones running around, I need a camera that actually takes the picture when I want it to.




With the weather FINALLY cooling off a bit (we were in the mid-80s all last week, but I'm hoping that some storms due for the next couple of days will have us in the 70s), we decided it was time to head to the pumpkin patch. For all ya'll locals, it's a place out in Perkins called Grider Farm. My mom, my sister Stephanie, and her kids came along for the ride. It was beautiful weather and we had loads of fun picking out five pumpkins (of varying sizes) for only $15! I organized them on our porch with a few other cute fall/Halloween crafts. I'll have to post a picture soon.

I just can't resist posting pictures of Ezra's idea of "smiling for the camera." I know they look a little ridiculous...indulge me

It hasn't rained for a while, so the dust was an inch thick. Georgia, who is particularly low to the ground, got the worst of it.

My sister Stephanie and her oh-so-beautiful daughter, Ella

As I'm nearly to the end of my pregnancy, I figured I'd post at least one more belly picture. I'm exactly 35 weeks and 2 days. It's not the cutest as I took it at like 9:15 tonight, but I knew if I didn't do it now, it just wouldn't happen. To my sisters who'll know what I'm talking about, please excuse the belly/butt issue-by this point in time in my pregnancy, it's the least of my body image issues. I'm carrying quite a bit lower this time than I did with my last two pregnancies (I partially dropped at about 32 weeks). I'm also little wider than I was with Georgia, but more compact than I was with Ezra. We'll see if the baby comes on the same schedule as the other two did (about a week early) or if she continues to do her own thing.

Hope you enjoyed the update. Have a fabulous day and thanks for sticking with me!