I have so many things to blog about...

I am setting a pre New Year's resolution for myself to be better about blogging.  I'm not sure how to define better for myself...once a week, once a month, once a quarter?  President Hinckley said "Be better tomorrow than you were today!"  I guess that's a good place to start, I'll just be better!!!
I will say I love my little Maxwell.  He has brought so much joy into our home (that I felt was already a pretty joyous place) I love seeing my older kids ooh and aah over him.  It's the sweetest thing in the world!  I feel like I'm really soaking in every little sweet moment more than I did with my other kids.  I just enjoy the little sounds and wonder in his face (not that I didn't with the others too) I just really soak it all in!!!  He's so fun!  Whenever I pull out my camera Wayne often says "just take a mental picture" I have really done that and i feel like I don't have enough pictures now.  The only picture I have from Halloween is on my phone...whhaatt?!?!  How is that possible?  I have a little turtle that my sister in law gave me to measure Max's growth month by month...I've taken the pictures, actually let me re-phrase, Britt has taken the pictures on her phone...whaaat?!?!
I think sitting here I've set my goal...I'll be better about taking pictures of Max.
I have been very contemplative lately,  I look at and hold Max pretty much all day while thinking of Brittany.  He looks a lot like Britt did and I just sit and enjoy him.  Britt only has half of her junior year left and then obviously she'll be a senior.  As I sit and stare at Max I truly see my little Britt and then come back to reality that she'll go to college in a year and a half...whaatt?!?!  It's crazy!  I do also think of Jay and Ally.  I have to remind myself that Ally is only 10.  I served with the youth so much and having Britt and Jay as teenagers I feel Ally got lumped in with the big kids and she's still little!  I have enjoyed shopping for her this Christmas season with the thought that she's little in mind.  When my thoughts wander about Jay, I marvel at what a sharp young priesthood holder he is and how much he loves this little Maxwell.  Jay is soooo cute and loving with Max...truly it's my favorite thing to watch!  How do I capture that on film?
Anyway, those are my thoughts today...I do have some fun pictures to post if I'd ever put Max down to load them to the computer!!!  When I say that out loud (via typing) I think it just sounds so not important!  Max is actually sleeping right now so maybe if I were quick I could get in a shower and upload some pictures...mark set go!

Youth Conference

Welcome to BOOT camp..."Build On Our Testimonies"
Sister Chandler and her cute daughter Kennedy made this sign welcoming the campers!

All the campers lined up ready to do jumping jacks and whatever else drill master Wayne Cannon has in store for them!!!

My cute family.  Part of our BOOT camp was doing a service project in the community called Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN).  WE had over 300 community members helping the elderly with yard work and other needed tasks.

Jay with Brooke and Rochelle trimming back overgrown bushes for a  92 year old lady in West Linn

Taking a donut break...

Our incredible team helping EVE with her yard.  Most of the brethren got  a lot of bee stings taking out some of the blackberry bushes, but were troopers and kept on working.  

After everyone returned from NHN the YW's presidency had a great lunch waiting for us back at BOOT camp.  The kids played a great game of keep away before the actual BOOT camp activities started.

Britt on the monkey bridge.  Each youth climbed the rope wall and then had to walk across this monkey bridge.  It was challenging and scary for some.

My cute Brittany taking time to warm up by holding Max.  Max was only a month old and was such a good sport while Wayne and I were the leaders of this youth conference.  Ally was there to watch and play with Max and also LOVED being able to come to BOOT camp!

Wayne and I had a great time doing this conference with the youth.  We asked the Priests to plan and extreme obstacle course and they did their task well.  The rope wall and monkey bridge really had to our overall conference message of overcoming struggles.  We also had a extreme trust fall, tire course and LOTS of jumping jacks and even some push-ups!!!  I love serving the youth.  Their energy is so contagious and I love it!  This past Sunday Wayne took a call from one of our high councilmen in the stake and we were asked to be a MA and PA on the upcoming trek for our stake.  I AM SO EXCITED!!!  I've been on a few treks and have never been a Ma.  Both Britt and Jay will also be going so it will be fun to go through this experience with them.  Britt did a trek in Pleasanton a few years ago and is eager to do it again!
YAY FOR YOUTH!!!

Maxwell James Cannon

On October 9, 2011 we blessed our little miracle.  Of course as everyone knows we named him MAXWELL JAMES CANNON. During the blessing Wayne kept referring to him as JAMES, which is funny because we've been calling him MAX...it was kind of a sweet moment for me and I thought about the name JAMES. We really struggled naming Maxwell, we knew we wanted a family name but couldn't decide on which family name to use. Jay's name is full of family.  JAY is Wayne's dads name and SORENSEN is my maiden name...you don't get more family than that!!! Wayne loved the name MAX and it's hard to come up with a family name that goes with that.  JAMES sounds good with everything!  My only reservation in using JAMES was that there were already so many JAMES'.  Anyway as I sat in the congregation (tears in my eyes) I listened to Wayne repeatedly call Max JAMES, and I thought of all the JAMES' in our family. (on both sides)  My maternal grandfather is CLAYTON JAMES KEARL, I have a brother JAMES TYLER whose youngest son is NATHAN JAMES, a brother in-law STEPHEN JAMES whose oldest son is MITCHELL JAMES and my oldest brother Andy has a son BENJAMIN JAMES. When Wayne said James over and over in the blessing I was so touched by each of the James' in his life.  Stephen, Mitchell, Tyler and Nathan were all present at the blessing.  My nephew Benjamin has always had a special place in my heart...as I mentioned he belongs to Andy and Andy and I have always had kids close to the same time.  Bethany and Britt are one month apart.  Nick and Jay are 7 months apart.  Bella and Ally are 8 months apart.  Whenever we would get together with their family Ben never had a buddy and it was always a reminder to me of the miscarriage I had.  Ben was cheated of a buddy!!!  I seriously thought of it EVERY TIME!!!  Andy and Mel recently adopted a little boy so we've held our tradition of having kids together, this time Mel skipped out on the delivery but her process of getting Josh wasn't easy!!!  Okay, I've rambled on enough, but needless to say JAMES is a special name and we love it!!!  We do still call him MAX, but we love his given name of MAXWELL JAMES CANNON!!!                       

 Below is a picture of MAX with my dad, who made Max's blessing outfit!  My mom was on a quest to find the perfect outfit and said nothing in the stores was special enough for him and half heartily suggested my dad make one and he agreed!  It was of course amazing and so perfect for our MAX!!!                                                                                                                                          In the picture below is NATHAN JAMES, JAMES TYLER AND MAXWELL JAMES

In this picture below is STEPHEN JAMES, MAXWELL JAMES and MITCHELL JAMES

Great Grandpa CLAYTON JAMES and MAXWELL JAMES on a recent visit to Utah!  So happy we got to spend some time with the greats!  Grandpa turned 90 in June and is still going strong!!!

Finally, below is my special BENJAMIN JAMES and MAXWELL JAMES. Ben was in Utah the same time we were so we lucked out!!!

Max's blessing day was great!  I will next do a post about the whole weekend.  Tyler and his family came down from Spokane and baptized their son Ryan in our stake.  It was so nice of them to combine the weekend so that lots of family could participate in both and only have to travel once!!! STAY TUNED...

My life now...

 I love having a life again!  My kids hate that I'm constantly wanting to go somewhere to take pictures, but Max changes so quickly!!!  I also want to fill my house with new family photos.  I had 3 kids for so long and I'm still getting used to the fact that I now have 4!!!  I feel like I'm babysitting Max, it's been so fun.
We've been busy now that the kids are back in school, but it's nice to be on a schedule (sort of) and to be an active part of that schedule!  I love being the chauffeur, house cleaner, meal maker mom again!  I LOVE IT!!!
Wayne and I were asked to be in charge of our Ward Youth Conference and we had a blast doing that with the youth!  (I'll do a separate post about that experience)  I also have a new calling. I'm now the Activity Days Leader.  I think that's going to quickly become my favorite calling EVER!!!  I'm very excited!

 These are some pictures taken at Stake Play practice...Max is adored by all the youth!  He's the center of attention wherever he goes!

Family Pictures

Sometimes pictures simply speak for themselves. Enjoy some of my favorites from our day at the park...


Please notice his faux hawk...seriously how cute is he?!?!

Ally turns 10!

Happy day to Ally! I was concerned that Ally's day would get lost or that she'd feel neglected on her special day because everything would be about the new baby! (I wasn't even sure I'd be home from the hospital yet) Luckily everything worked out great and she didn't get forgotten! Melanie and kids were in town along with Gramma Susie, Pa Bob and Aunt Anne. Everyone was here on the day before and we had a big dinner party with yummy cupcakes that Aunt Anne made! My parents were still here on her day and Aunt Vikki came over with her boys and we had another mini party. Our tradition on the 10th birthday is to go bowling...this year we had a Wii bowling party and will all go real bowling later! She loved every minute of her birthday bashes! I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE'S 10!!!



Ally has been in gymnastics all and is loving it! I'm amazed at how fearless she is! She will be continuing throughout the year, because she loves it so much!!!

Maxwell James Cannon

Finally getting to hold my Maxwell! Maxwell James Cannon was born at 9:49 August 3, 2011 weighing 6 lbs 7 oz. He is perfect!!!Meeting big sister Brittany
Meeting Ally (she has since perfected her holding of Max...the first time was awkward for her but now if you ask her she's a pro!)
Getting some lovin' from daddy!
Meeting Jay for the first time. Jay was at EFY when Max was born on a Wednesday and Jay came home on Saturday. As soon as he walked in the door I handed Max over.
Can I just say watching my big kids with Max is the most amazing thing ever! I love that this little bundle of Heaven has melted the hearts of everyone in our home. They have each told me individually that me being in bed was totally worth it to get Max! (they weren't sure of that going through the bed rest experience)

More pics to come...ya'll know I have a million of them!!!

Stage 1...

We arrived at the hospital at 7 am. We were immediately taken into a room and they hooked me up to the fetal monitor. (I hate those things!) We loved our nurse Julie. She was great and made me feel comfortable, which wasn't an easy task because I was FREAKED OUT!!!


Below we are preparing to go into the operating room. This is our nurse Julie! I had to go into the OR by myself while Wayne had to wait in the recovery room...I didn't like that part AT ALL!
Below you can see me through the window of the OR...Wayne knew I wasn't happy to go in by myself so he stood and watched from the window. (I didn't know he was there, but still super sweet)
I had to go in by myself to get my spinal and my epidural prep. I've never had so many needles in me in my life! I had the regular pregnancy IV in one hand another IV in the other hand that was just preparatory in case I needed a blood transfusion which they thought would be likely and had two units standing by (made my nerves really calm) Luckily I didn't need them. I personally think all the poking of needles is the worse part of labor! I didn't like that Wayne wasn't in there but I lived and I was told they do it that way because during the spinal you have to be really still and when a loved one is in the room patients tend to look for them and it makes the process painful! As soon as I was numbed up they let Wayne in.
This is what I got to look at during my delivery...yes it sucked and yes I got claustrophobic! I'd love to say that this whole experience was beautiful and amazing, but I can't it sucked until I heard little Max crying and it made it all worth it. I threw up, I hated the air mask, I hated that I didn't get to push, but I LOVE that I got a baby! I didn't get to hold him for almost 2 hours after he was ripped out of me and that was really hard and I was a crying mess until they put him on my chest and wheeled me into the recovery room. I was in the recovery room for several hours and almost the entire time Max was on my chest and that was heaven! Our nurse Julie broke all rules and let Ally and Britt sneak into the recovery room one at a time. I think it scared them a little to see me looking like I did, but they were thrilled to see Max!

I still get emotional thinking of this whole experience but everything I went through has been to get Max and he is here and I love it!

My first AMNIO and hopefully my last...

I had to go in for an amniocentesis today to check the maturity of our babies lungs. It was HORRIBLE...it was over quickly but I cried! I didn't really know how painful it would be or what to expect. It hurt a lot more than I thought but it was over faster than I thought. I think the roller coaster of emotions just hit me when the doctor pulled the needle out filled with amniotic fluid. They of course had to explain all the risks and I would've been so upset if something had gone wrong and I was so relieved that it was over! We had to wait all day for the results and that was nerve racking too! Finally at 4:30 we got word that our little guys lungs are strong and we will proceed with delivery tomorrow...hooray! I of course cried again! I'm so excited to move onto the next phase and hold my little man!

Still a little freaked by the C-section, but I made it through the amnio so I'm a little more calm!!!

Bed rest...

I'm SOOOO pregnant...
I have been on bed rest for nearly 3 months now. It has been a very interesting experience. One I hope to never repeat!!! I have learned a lot...First, I have been reminded that personal intuition is real. I knew when I went to California with my parents that something was different about this pregnancy and how I was feeling, it was different. I tired real easily and it had nothing to do with my age. My mom I think also sensed something was up because she always encouraged me to rest and take it easy! Two days after I returned home from California my sentence was given!!! Second, I have really come to appreciate how much my husband loves me, he has done so much for me and really stepped up and NOT ONCE has he complained. On the same note, I've learned that kids really do what's expected of them without being asked. My kids have been amazing during this whole time and I've loved how doting and caring they have been. They've never resented or been negative about this whole experience. They each love feeling the baby move and have spent lots of time talking to and playing music to our new little addition! Third, I've learned how real my diagnosis is. I admit I've pushed the limit sometimes and I've ALWAYS paid for it...it made me angry every time how real it was!!! Fourth, I've learned how much I love CHURCH. I have had the blessing of the priests coming and bringing me the sacrament and I think that's amazing! I love the spirit that it brings into our home and I love being able to renew my covenants. I also had the blessing of my bishop and then a member of the stake presidency come into my home to have interviews to renew my temple recommend. I knew I wouldn't be going to the temple for awhile but I wanted a current recommend! These priesthood leaders were MORE than willing to come and accommodate me! It was really great to visit with each of them. Wayne is the ward clerk and our bishop has become a great friend and checks in on me often!!! His wife is the stake girls camp director and he brought me projects that could be done in bed to make me feel apart of girls camp being that I wouldn't be able to go! I LOVED IT!!!

I love my family near and far for keeping tabs on me! I have grown closer to each of my own children and I am more in love with my husband than I ever thought possible. I'm grateful for my testimony and my knowledge of my Savior! I am blessed to be carrying this special little spirit who is truly making a GRAND ENTRANCE! I can't wait to hold him and give him a good talking to :) I feel like I'm going to be a first time mom again...it's weird but I am more nervous this time around than I ever have been! I'M OLD!!!

Little baby comes in 4 more days, I'm still a little nervous about all that is going to happen, but I'm so excited to move on to the next phase! It will be different than my other labors but it's been so different thus far it seems fitting the way it will play out!

I hope in the next few days to do a few more posts of some of our Oregon happenings...then I'm sure my posts will be all baby related! I think I'm most excited to see my children interact with my new child...I really am so excited to see the relationship between each of them!

AAAHHHH I'M HAVING A BABY!!!

Memorial Day trip to the GORGE...

When we first moved to Oregon I started working and Wayne was Mr. Mom. He tends to be all business and not real adventurous. He does like a good adventure but doesn't usually deviate from the mundane of the daily schedule. The kids were dying to have a day trip of some sort. By Memorial Day I had been on bed rest for about a month and the kids were REALLY going crazy! (I do have to say for Spring Break Wayne took the kids down to California for a week and they all had a GREAT time) anyway...by this time we all were getting a little stir crazy so I said let's drive over to the gorge (about a half hour from our house) and drive along the historic highway with all the amazing waterfalls. I said I can take the lounge chair and read while you guys hike to any of the falls you want. EVERYONE WAS THRILLED...it was a perfect cloudy, misty day in Oregon. It was fun to get out. I took a book and the Ensign and sat in the parking lots of all the falls. It was fun...I made the family promise they would take pictures that I would take and the following pics are the result of my family MOCKING my picture taking! I LOVED IT! I even got some videos of the sights and SOUNDS of their hikes!

These are of the Vista House, at the top of the drive looking out over the gorge. It really is breathtaking every time I go!

This is Jay letting me know he LOVES me on his way to Bridal Veil falls! Bridal Veil turned out to be everyone's favorite fall! I can't wait til I'm able to go and do this hike (toting a little one of course)

Can't you feel the love from this crazy girl? I got about 10 different poses of Britt on this rock...full on MOCKING my picture taking! PUNK!!!
MULTNOMAH FALLS

Britt and Jay stood at the foot of the parking lot with me while Ally and Wayne hiked up to the bridge. I really wanted to walk up the walk way to the foot of the lower falls but Britt and Jay refused to let me...BEDREST NAZI'S!!!

View from Horsetail Falls

Jay is singing how much he loves the rain and having his picture taken...he's a big fan!!!