Christmas Pictures

We hurried home Thursday night from the hospital and got up early on Friday so we could get our Christmas pictures taken before mom and dad took Hannah and Olivia home with them. So, here we are with Isabella about 32 hours old. Here are my favorites of the other girls:

Emma

Sara

Hannah

Olivia

Baby Isabella

Isabella Carma Prete arrived at 7:06 PM on Wednesday December 9th. We are so glad she is here! After the initial induction at midnight was postponed, the hospital called just before 11:00 the next morning and told me to come in. Naturally, Joe was in a series of hearings and I couldn't reach him so I drove myself to the hospital, leaving a message at his firm. By noon I was hooked up to the pitocin and shortly after, they broke my water. I was hoping to get through my labor without an epidural this time, remembering how easy Olivia's birth had been, with just one push for her and one for the placenta. Boy did I miscalculate. Somehow I must have missed the connection between having HAD an epidural with Olivia as the reason it was so easy... That said, I did make it about 6 and a half hours until I was dilated to a 7 before I caved in and got one (in actuality, I was begging for it). I am really amazed at how I had forgotten how out of your head crazy labor pain can make you. Anyway, the anesthesiologist swept in and saved my day. My doctor was unable to make it due to the timing, but we very pleased that his replacement was Dr. Harter from our previous ward. He and Joe had been in the elders quorum together and are good friends. He also is said to be one of the best ob/gyns in the area. I felt like it was an extra little blessing to have him. (The reason I hadn't requested him in the first place was that I felt it was a little uncomfortable to have my OB in my ward, but now that I don't see him every Sunday, I'm OK with it. I did get in with another doctor in his group, though, and thus we get this result!) Dr. Harter had Joe suit up and deliver our little Isabella. By the time all this was happening, the lovely epidural had kicked in and I was able to relax and more fully comprehend and enjoy the moment. As a side note, my reason for resisting the epidural in the first place is because of some not so fun side effects I've had from them in the past. This time, most of the numbing was on the lower half of my body, but postpartum I continued to become somewhat numb upwards, to the point that by morning I had some numbing sensations clear up to my jaw and ears. I was relieved that it eventually all passed, but it did prevent me from sleeping well that night.

Joe and I before the birth (and escalation of labor).

Dr. Joe

At the end...

Isabella Carma Prete



8 lbs. 1 oz. and 19 inches long
Her hair looks dark but it actually has blonde highlights, so I'm betting she'll be fair like Sara and Olivia...

No room at the Inn...

We were scheduled to go in to the hospital this morning at 12:01 AM, but they called us at 11:11 PM last night and said that they were full and not taking any scheduled inductions. So we continue to play the waiting game...

Probably Another December Baby

As many of you know, Haylee is due on 12/7/09. I was hoping the baby would arrive in November because our family has so many December birthdays (Haylee 12/12, Olivia 12/20, Joe 12/25, Emma 12/29). But, with less than 18 hours left in November, and no signs of labor, it looks like we will probably be adding one more Prete to the December birthday list. :)

More House

Lolly requested more house photos, so here they are... Right now we are hurriedly trying to get the yard and winter garden squared away before it starts to get cold. After that, we'll scramble to get what we can done inside before the baby comes at the beginning of December and Joe's family arrives for Christmas/New Year's. So far we... tore out a water-damaged wall in the laundry, changed out the kitchen faucet and garbage disposal, layed sod in the front yard, planted 2 peach, a lemon, and an apricot (trees), (BTW, we had to rent a jack-hammer to dig the holes for our trees, that's how much work it was...) tore out a dead palm and several other stumps/dead plants, done some painting and put in a few light fixtures, got a new garage door - besides the regular unpacking/setting up/cleaning from the move. We've got a long way to go...

These stairs are nice and wide, I think about 5 feet. They are to your right as you walk in from the entry towards the back of the house where the kitchen is. My back is to the dining area taking this picture.

At the top of the stairs is a large landing area with cupboard space and here is the loft to your left - it is a really big room that for now is empty other than our weights and weight bench.

View from the back of the loft towards the top of the stairs.

This is the two-tiered landing at the top of the stairs.

To the right of where I was for the previous picture on the landing, you can look down into the entry/front room. There is a large plant shelf that you can access there.

From the top of the stairs to the right is the access to the other 3 bedrooms/bathroom.

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 2

Bedroom 3

When you follow the landing around the stairs, you get to the master bedroom...

...and bath. The jets work in that tub! The master has his and hers walk in closets. We can't even fill one with clothes at this point...

Our basement is accessed from the main floor, off the family room and near the 5th bedroom which now serves as an office.

This is our cold storage area off the basement - so excited to fill it as soon as we can build the shelves!

Here are some more recent pictures with our stuff in the house... ignore the mess...

Dining half-painted

THE DEAL IS SEALED

The property transaction went through a week ahead of schedule and the deed was recorded yesterday (10/1/09) making us the official owners of 8701 Castle Hill Ave, LV, NV 89129. This has enabled us to move up our move date to this weekend. In fact, I pick up a moving truck in just a few short hours. This is such an exciting (and tiresome) time. We are grateful for the assistance and support of friends and family who have willingly offered their help to clean, pack, move, and assist with various minor repairs.

It is a season of change. Today, our ward and stake boundaries are being redivided, our Bishop is being changed (along with 4 others in the stake), and I am having my last Elders Quorum Presidency meeting before our move. It will be fun to see who is called as the new Bishop and who is called to fill various other callings in the Cimarron ward. It's also kind of nice to know that I will be released from the Elders Quorum Presidency after a lengthy stint.

We got word on Friday that our loan is approved and our tentative closing date is next Wednesday, September 30, 2009. Then, on to bigger and better things. We have tenants lined up for our old (current) house and we are desperately dashing to get everything cleaned and ready for them before they move in (not to mention all of the packing). We are also making various purchases for the new house (washer/dryer, chairs, paint, etc.) It has been a busy and stressful time but a time of great excitement.

Haylee is amazing, doing all she does with a 3/4 sized baby in her belly. I'm grateful for all she does. We can't wait for our girl number 5 to arrive, soon after we move into our new house. We hear good things about the ward and elementary school in our new neighborhood. We know that the future is bright and we feel very grateful for our rich blessings -- including this free land, good stable employment, healthy children, testimonies of the gospel, strong family relationships, etc. In the same vein, we recognize that where much is given, much is required. We need to square up our shoulders and willingly do all we can to strengthen and lift others.

New House

We've somewhat suddenly found ourselves as purchasers-to-be (we're currently in escrow) of another, larger home. We have long wished we could take advantage of the buyer's market here in Vegas, but had abandoned the idea until quite suddenly everything has come together (at least so far). Here are some specs and pictures: 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath, 4979 sq ft, 3 car garage, .18 acre lot, a large kitchen, and 4 living spaces (front room, family room, basement, and loft). It also has cold storage. It is extremely rare to find basements in Vegas, so for us it is a real bonus.

Entry, looking towards the front of the house.

Front living room (step down) to the left of entry as you walk in.

Dining area at the back end of the front room.

Stairs and entry to kitchen towards the back of the house (standing in dining). The stairs are about 5 ft wide, which is nice.

Kitchen (right side, to back of house)

Kitchen (left side, towards front of house)

From kitchen looking towards step-down family room.

Family room, with wet bar at the other end (won't that be handy!).

Family room, looking towards back yard.

Back yard.

These are only of the main floor, I'll post the upper floor and basement pictures later. This a foreclosure so there is a lot of work to be done, which I am excited about because I love being able to make it my own. It will take some time though, with the baby coming, and paying down debt to free up the funds for upgrading. But meanwhile, we won't be growing out of this one any time soon!

Crystel's Mission Call

For those of you who know her, my little sister Crystel received her mission call this week. She'll be serving in the Los Angeles Temple Visitor Center mission. She will learn Spanish. She enters the MTC on November 18. Of my siblings, Crystel is the 13th to serve a mission and the 8th "Sister Stout."

Summer Summary

The summer is about to come to a close. It has been great and full of adventure. We kicked it off with a Fourth of July weekend up at the Stout family cabin east of Zion national park. We had the time of our lives zooming around on ATVs and go-karts, target shooting with an array of guns, swinging on a rope swing, enjoying the scenery, temperature and seclusion. We can't wait to get back up there. Maybe we can spend some time there on Labor Day weekend.

Another highlight was a 2 1/2 week vacation (less for me, who had to work) where our family was able to spend considerable time with extended family, attend family reunions, go to the zoo, go to multiple pools/water parks, go camping, go to a parade, go boating multiple times, spend a week in Alberta, Canada, etc. I could go on about this trip for pages but you get the gist.

Another highlight was a trip up to Price Utah where we were able to spend time with my sister Liz and her family, and my sister Sarah. Sarah and I took off for two days to go river rafting on the Colorado river near Moab, Utah. While Sarah and I were off rafting, Haylee and the kids were able to spend some time with my parents and my brother John's family. Another highlight of this trip was a brief stop at the Hurricane fair on the way up to Price.

Our next and last trip of the summer is to Hurricane on Labor Day/"Peach Days" weekend. We will be going up on Thursday night so that I (Joe) and several of Haylee's brothers/sisters and spouses can hike the Narrows. I try to do this hike every year. It will be good to arrive in Hurricane a day earlier this year so we can better enjoy the Peach Day celebrations on Saturday - including a community rodeo.

School starts on Monday. Emma will be starting second grade and our young Sara will be starting half-day kindergarten. She has been counting down the days to kindergarten for the past year and a half. Haylee will have a busy fall shuttling kids back and forth to school, keeping house and babysitting. Then, at the beginning of December (preferably a bit earlier in mid to late November), our fifth baby girl will arrive. At that point, we will max out the seats in our van and enter a new and exciting stage of our lives.

Pictures from Summer Vacation, Part I

This was our group at the Hogle Zoo, minus my bro in law, Dave, who is taking the picture, and Sara (my sister) and her two kids.

Emma with big-horned sheep


Livvy watching the sleeping tiger...

...who woke up...


...and came over to say hi....


Liv preferred him at a distance.

Lilly (Sondra's) and Livvy

Kate (Monica's) and Hannah

Megan, Livvy, Kayla, Emma, Michelle, Hannah and Kate in front of the bears' den

Sara with the giraffes

Emma playing dress up at the Bryce's

REXBURG

We got to ride the carousel...


... and get wet at the splash park!