Halloween 2008

Happy Halloween!

We had a very happy Halloween! Jacob was a horse, and Bryon and I accompanied him trick-or-treating as a cowgirl and cowboy (the hats came in handy when it rained on us). Leila was a squid, which doesn't really go along with the whole Western theme, but that's the costume we could find for her! Jacob got way more candy than any two-year-old should have (aw, darn. We'll just have to help him out with that one!), but he thought it was great.

We went to a Halloween party Saturday night with my high school friends, but unfortunately forgot the camera, so there's no photographic evidence. April and Jason Miller hosted it, though,

and it was a ton of fun.

Jacob the horse. He kind of looks like a chipmunk here. Hmm...

The cutest squid I've ever seen.

The aftermath of Halloween. Yep, that's chocolate. Ah, what good parents we are.

Danielle's Birthday

Happy birthday to me! On October 29, I turned the big 2-5. A quarter of a century. As Bryon said in my birthday card, wisdom may come with age, but it's the cake I look forward to each year.

We went out to dinner at Carino's with Bryon's family the night before my birthday (Thursday), then came back to our house for cake. I made myself a pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. It was delicious.

My best birthday present came from my mother-in-law (no offense, Bryon!) who watched the kids for me on my birthday so that I could go shopping for some new clothes. I had a fun day at Tanger Outlets in Park City, and got a much-needed update to my wardrobe.

On Friday night we just stayed home with the kids, but Bryon took over household duties (another great present!) and made a fabulous pizza for dinner. It was a great birthday!

Pumpkin Fun

Halloween is my favorite holiday (I think it has to do with the candy), so normally I get really into it. But, with Leila and all we haven't given Halloween the homage it deserves.

In an attempt to rectify that, here are some pictures of Jacob doing the pumpkin thing.

We took Jacob to this pumpkin patch near our house to pick out his pumpkin. He didn't understand the purpose, but he was excited because he likes pumpkins.
Every pumpkin he saw was Jacob's favorite, so he ended up "choosing" the one Daddy handed to him.

Yes, of course that blue paint ended up on his shirt. But I was impressed by how long he went actually putting it on the pumpkin. And still, it was less messy than carving would have been.

Here we have the finished product. Jacob loves everything Cookie Monster, so this was our best attempt at a Cookie Monster pumpkin.


Yesterday we visited Engh Gardens in Midvale with Grandma Poulter, Jacob's cousins, Cade and Ambree, and his Aunts Bethany and Trenda. It was really sunny, so the pictures didn't turn out great, but Jacob is the ghost on the left, above.

A close-up of Jacob as a witch.

He has a ways to go before he's a 7-foot scarecrow.

Jacob was very entertained by the hay bale maze. I told him we could go through one last time before we left, so when he got to the end, he turned around and ran all the way back through to the beginning. Clever boy.

They had a big pirate ship that Jacob had fun running around and climbing on.

By far the favorite attraction was the train. Jacob watched it for probably 15 minutes, completely spellbound. He enjoyed predicting when it would come through the tunnel.

Leila's Namesake

Lila Banner Cheney

This is a picture of my grandmother, Lila Cheney. We named Leila after her. Yes, their names are different (my grandmother's name is pronounced LIE-lah and Leila's is LAY-lah), but there is a reason for this. I had heard this story before, but when Bryon and I were talking about what to name this baby, I appealed to my mom for clarification. She claims it is true, although it seems weird. Apparently, my grandma always disliked the name Lila. She didn't think it was a very pretty name, or maybe she just didn't think it fit her well, but whatever the reason, she hated it. This seems weird, since most people agree it is a lovely name. Maybe when I see her again I can ask her for details (she passed away in 2000, when I was 16). At any rate, my mom once proposed to my grandma the possibility of naming a daughter after her. Grandma got mad and said she didn't want any of her grandchildren (or, I guess, great-grandchildren) to have the name Lila, and if my mom or anyone else named a child after her, she'd come back and haunt them. Although, I do find that last threat amusing, Bryon and I figured that if you're trying to honor someone by passing on their name, it doesn't make much sense to go against their wishes on the matter. So, Lila was out.

We found the name Leila in a name book, and both liked it. It is only one letter off from Grandma's name, and the pronounciation is different enough that hopefully Grandma is not offended. So, that's why Leila is named after my grandma Lila, but doesn't actually have the same name.

Her middle name, Anne, is in honor of my mother, DeAnn (pictured below with Leila shortly after her birth). I thought the generational thing was nice.

Actually, it's pretty cool because Leila already shows some features of mine that came to me from my mom, and from her mother. Her lips are like mine and my mom's. And she has very long, thin fingers and toes, which I inherited from my mom, who inherited them from her mom. I think it's neat that Leila actually has physical characteristics of her namesake.

Anyway, I love and admire my grandma, which is why I wanted to pass on her name (sort of) to my daughter. Lila was an excellent writer, and wrote a very entertaining book of her memories in short story format for her children and grandchildren. I also admire her work ethic. Even when she was older (my mom was the youngest of seven children, so by the time I knew my grandma she was already in her 60s) she still worked hard all the time. I hope Leila follows that example. Most importantly, though, both my grandma and my mom are women of faith. Both have made sacrifices to live the gospel and to teach their children the truth. I love them for this and hope I can be the same kind of example for Leila.

Birth Announcement

We are sending out Leila's birth announcement this week to our non-blog-friendly relatives and friends, so we thought we'd post it here so that all of you could see it, too. Consider Leila's birth very officially announced!

Leila's Nursery

I was so excited to be having a girl, I couldn't wait to decorate a pink nursery. I couldn't finish the decor until we knew her name, though. So, here it is!

Leila's Birth

Leila was due on Thursday, September 25. All that week I'd been having minor contractions off and on, but nothing especially painful. On Thursday Jacob and I spent the day with Bryon's mom, and I didn't have any contractions at all, so I assumed we still had awhile before the baby would come.
When I got home that evening I had a few contractions, but again nothing serious. Bryon and I were planning to go to the temple, but by the time the babysitter got there I decided I didn't want to risk being stuck if this was the real thing. So, Bryon and I went for a walk while Jacob played with the babysitter. My contractions were quite painful and strong, but not regular at all.
When we got back around 7:00 PM, we put Jacob to bed and my contractions virtually stopped. There was nothing, so I assumed once again that it would be awhile.
I didn't have any more contractions until I went to bed around 11:00. They were really minor, and I was able to go to sleep. I woke up every 10 minutes or so after midnight with a contraction, but they didn't last long and I'd go to sleep again. Finally around 1:00 AM they were too painful for me to stay in bed, so I walked around and tried to decide whether this whole birth thing would wait until morning, or if I should wake Bryon up and get going. By 2:00 AM my contractions were only four or five minutes apart, and continued to get stronger, so I knew waiting wasn't an option. I woke Bryon up and we got our stuff together, then loaded everything (including Jacob) in the car and drove to Bryon's parents house. Jacob was wide awake on the way, and very excited about going to Grandma and Grandpa's. We left Jacob there for the night and headed to the hospital. I quickly discovered that a car is probably the least comfortable place to have contractions, but luckily the trip didn't take too long. Also, my contractions were only lasting 10 seconds or so, so it wasn't too unbearable.
We got to the hospital at 3:00 AM. At this point I was in more than a fair amount of pain, and the whole check-in process just made things worse because all the procedures and questions were distracting me. I knew that the baby was pretty close, but I also knew it would be a whole lot easier if I weren't in so much pain, so I requested an epidural. My midwife arrived shortly after that was done (to a much happier patient than if she'd gotten there before!), and broke my water to move things along. By the time they'd laid out all their equipment, I was ready to go. I pushed through three contractions and Leila was born on the last one, at 4:56 AM. She came out looking big (much bigger than I expected!) and healthy. She had a beautiful cry (I'll try to remember that when I hear it in the middle of the night), and I was struck by her dark hair and big cheeks. She was beautiful!
Bryon cut the cord and after she was weighed and wrapped up we got to hold and admire her, and try to decide on her name. Luckily, Leila seemed to fit. The name is Arabic for "night" and means born at night and dark-haired beauty. Both are applicable to this beautiful baby. Additionally, we wanted to honor my Grandmother, Lila, and my mother, DeAnn (hence the middle name, Anne). So, this name was perfect. Stay tuned for more on Leila's namesake.