Final Finals Weeks...

I never thought it would come, but my last final is fast approaching, it is on Monday. I only have this one final and I am having a tough time getting up the "give a darn" to study for it. Personally, I think that it should be policy of the U of I College of Law to waive all finals for third year students. Not possible, but it'd be nice.
In other news, and probably more newsworthy, Olivia and Harrison are in Burley, on vacation. Olivia is actually doing recon work, checking out our rental and getting things in order for our move back to B-Town. FYI: we are moving after finals to Burley. I will study for the bar there and take it in Boise. We have rented a home south of town, thanks to very wonderful people. We will be in a Pella ward. After I take the bar, I am going to open my own solo practice. It is extremely scary, but pretty exciting.
Olivia and Baby Son will be home next Monday. Meanwhile they are staying with Grandma Risa and visiting with some of our family that is in Burley. Hopefully, Olivia will update as to her trip to Clovis, NM to visit my sister, Kresta, and her family. It sounds like it was quite the trip.
Also, Harrison is taking steps and making lots of noise. It is fun when Olivia gives him the phone and he laughs at me, or he giggles because he finally gets to hold the phone. I miss my little family, but it is okay, this will be over soon.
Well, this is a short update, but not too much has changed. Feel free to ask questions in the comment section, if needed. Thanks!

Wednesdays

I have come to love Wednesdays this semester. Why? No class, that is why. It makes the week go by a ton faster to have a day in the middle that we treat kind of like Saturday. Today I studied for the MPRE, yes, I am taking it AGAIN. Sonuva! I am not to thrilled, but I am trying to study more this time. After I studied, we loaded up and went to Lewiston. We tried out a dry cleaner, at Pat and Tim's recommendation, Busy Bee. Seems pretty good. Then we hit up the only LDS bookstore within a few hundred miles. Then over to Costco, in Clarkston. It never ceases to amaze me how much we spend there, and how much we DON'T buy. But, you gotta love the dadgum pizza. Good stuff.
Sunday was interesting. Olivia and I had been asked to speak. She woke up sick, so I went to church alone. The Dan Bell family was also speaking (they did a great job). I spoke last. It was good to share the thoughts that I had. My subject matter was service, a topic that is quite dear to my heart. I think we all have room to improve. There are opportunities all around us. we should use them and serve our brothers and sisters.
Things are moving rapidly. Before you know it, I will be a Law Skool Grad. Pretty frickin crazy. I sure am glad this is almost over. This has not been an easy task, and I don't think I would want to do it again, but I am glad that I have plodded along and done it. MOst of the credit should go to Olivia and Harrison. If not for them, I think I would have picked up and left about two years ago. To all my young 1L friends I say: you are not the first to feel the way you do, many others have sat in your chair and taken the crap that is law school. They persevered and so can you. I am thankful for good friends who were inspired to say words of encouragement. Thank you very much. I hope all of you are well and that life is treating you kind. May the wind be at your back, the Sun shine on your face, and may the Good Lord take a liking to ya'll.

Hey! Do me a solid!

For the sake of our marriage, would ya'll check out the link on the sidebar titled "Paper Pals." This is Olivia's favorite store and we are trying to help them get hits on their blog. It really is a nice scrapbooking store, and they really like Harrison, so what's not to love.
On another semi-unrelated note: we traveled to Lewiston/Clarkston today. We took Spiral Highway, otherwise known as the spaghetti road. It was neat. Heck, at the top is a boot shop/souvenir store. Stop in and see Melvin. He is a nice feller. Then we went allover the twin cities. Stops at Costco, Orchard's Pawn, Lolo Sporting Goods and Primeland Co-operative. Then we took 195 to Pullman, to Paper Pals. I think Olivia should post, so I am outta here.

Ah, Sunday Afternoon...

I love Sunday. Many reasons for this, one being its the day to go to Church and enjoy the society of my fellow saints another is its really the only day Olivia and I get to spend a whole lot of time together. Right now she is playing the piano and Harrison is playing with a set of old license plates. Fun to watch? Yes. That little booger, earlier today, crawled up stairs at church. Now we really have to watch him!
Had a bit of a mix up this week, almost thought I was graduated. I thought I was at least 6 credits short, but the school academic advisor told me she thought i had enough credits to be finished. Visions of leaving Moscow and heading home to the Magic Valley filled my head. We got pretty excited. But, alas, she was wrong. I am actually 3 credits short of graduation. So, I will lighten my load and start to study for the bar.
I am going to try to post more often, and encourage Olivia to post her thoughts, even her "scrappy" ones. I don't know if we mentioned it, but she now has a 24" Cricut. It really is a neat machine, even if it cost an arm and a leg. Well, I am off to go to town to do a little HT. Have a nice day!

Well, it has really been a while...

Sorry for the hiatus, things have been a little crazy around here. Harrison is crawling everywhere, and thus the need to move things has hit. We have also started bathing him in the kitchen sink, he loves playing in the water and letting me hose him down with the flex hose. He is just growing like a dadgum weed. Harrison also attended quite a few law school classes. Just like dad, he paid attention mostly, until he would fall asleep to the droning of the professor.
Olivia finished up a trying semester, it was kinda tough to balance all her piano classes/practice with taking care of Harrison. She was pretty busy (and a little strung out), so this semester she is working at the Kid Care department of the North Idaho Athletic Club. She has also been working out, as membership to the club is part of her wages. For Christmas she got a huge surprise: a Cricut (the BIG one)! I think she likes it...
This is my last semester of school, ever! (I hope.) I had a fun semester, still yet to see grades, but I did calculations to know that only if I got all D's would I flunk out, so I am pretty sure I am okay. I took a bankruptcy class with a lab, and believe it or not, I kinda enjoy bankruptcy. I may think it is foolish that the remedy exists, but since it does, I am okay with helping people use it. I also took water law 1 & 2. Very fun. Water law 1 was the first A grade to show up on my transcript, so far. I was pleased. Steve Carpenter and I did a project for Negotiation and Appropriate Dispute Resolution that "forced" us to go to Lewiston and watch a livestock auction. It was quite entertaining and good clean fun, I think we may have had the liveliest presentation, according to our classmates.
This semester I am taking a law practice management course, Advanced Bankruptcy, Water Policy and Property Securities. It should be a fun semester, at least sorta laid back, as compared to the rest of school. We will be posting pictures, and hopefully Olivia posts her own update, so you get her side of the story...
Well, thats all the news from Lake Woebegone, were all the men are handsome, the women are strong and all the children are above average.

LOVE this Layout

Isn't it just beautiful? Inspiration courtesy of Prima Matketing, Inc. You can find their blog here. I'll post a picture when I make my rendition of this, probably at a much later date. I'm such a lazy scrapper. But I love it!

McCord's take on his recent vacation...

Well, we just rolled back into Moscow last night. We had a good ride. While we were gone a lot happened. I helped my dad work on his shop. (The wood and the steel for the shop are all from salvage jobs. Some of the wood came from the old Overland School. Some of the wood came from a potato cellar tear-down. The steel beam for the overhead door header is from the old Murtagh bridge. It is probably over 80 years old. No, my dad is not green, but the cost on all this stuff was low, it has cost him less than $600 for the wood and steel, for a shop that is 30x40' with 12.5' tall.) I also worked at Burley Refrigeration. That was fun. Sometimes I miss fixing things, but I always remember why I left that field.
I also got Forest started roping. It was not without events... He bucked with Annabelle (my niece) and she stuck it to him like a pro, for ten seconds. Then she made a hasty exit. We put her back on and she was shaking so bad, that Forest bucked again, harder. She really stayed in the middle, but came of when he went vertical. What an experience... I got on him and worked him over. I started roping on him the next night. I roped about 50 head on him while we were home. I would have taken him to the Big Dog, but two nights before the roping Forest went vertical on me and I thought it would be better to take a horse that was really broke. So I borrowed one from Mikey, a cute little paint mare. She was really fun. I made it to the short go with my cousin, Brandon. Had I caught 6 feet instead of 3, we would have won some cash. As it was, my buddy John ended up winning a little. It was great to see that happen.
There is more to this vacation, and I am sure Olivia and I will update this soon.

Harrison Update and Pictures

So, it's been awhile... McCord finished his summer classes, and I'm finally feeling normal. Harrison is getting so big!

And he's Strong! He's already tying to pull himself to a sitting position while holding him, or whenever seated and he needs very little or no head support. Most recently, he has started to fight the car seat straps while he's buckled in. Every once and a while, while he's on his stomach, he'll kick so hard that it flips him onto his back! and I usually find him on his side after a nap (he sleeps on his tummy. I know, I know. they say he should sleep on his back, but he just does better on his tummy). His two month checkup was a couple of weeks ago, stats are as follows:

Head Circumference: 15 1/2" - 50th percentile
Length: 23 1/4" - 75th percentile
Weight: 13 lbs. 4 oz. - 90th percentile

Yup. He's a big boy! And I'm sure he's put on at least another 6 oz. since then, if not a pound. He also had his shots :( but he did very well; little fevering and he hardly bruised, which was great because most of the recovery time was spent in the car.

We left for Burley right after his appointment. By the time we got to Missoula, all three of us we're exhausted. We set up camp in Dillon around 1 am. In the morning all the bikers (they were Canadian!) just loved to hold Harrison. One guy was holding a Mike's Hard Lemonade and the rest of them looked like they needed one. They were nice people and quite chatty. It was so fun to listen to their accents! So then we were on our way to St. Anthony, ID to visit the Garrett's. Mac went on a crazy ride with Tyson and AJ in demolition derby car through a gravel pit. They thought they were going to die! And I watched Twilight for the first time. It was pretty good, I think I'll have to read the books. We really miss them, Mac and Ty have been friends since they were in diapers. Mac's mom and Tyson's dad were born on the same day, in the same hospital, so they have known each other forever. It was so good to see them again!

Back to Harrison... He smiles and coos all the time, we even have little "conversations". I just love it! Motherhood is finally starting to feel like more than just being a milk cow. Harrison recently decided that he doesn't care much for naps, so now he takes a solid 1-2 hour nap in the morning, and the occasional 1 hour in the afternoon. Yay for me.

I think traveling has something to do with it. Last weekend my sister-in-law's husband competed in the Spudman Triathalon. He is a Physician's Assistant in the Air Force, and will be deploying for Afghanistan in December after a month of weapons training in November. Now, everybody in the military has weapons training, but he has to learn a few new ones because he will be with a Special Forces unit, which means he will be traveling and working through combat zones instead of in a hospital. Scary. So this was one last thing to do before leaving. They live in Clovis, New Mexico, so it became a family event. Mac's brothers family's came down from the Boise area, and let me tell ya, it was one mad house. There were 10 children, 10 adults, and one infant in a 4 bedroom house. Utter chaos. But it was so great to have them around.

Harrison was blessed on Saturday the 25th of July, and it was such a beautiful blessing. I am so grateful to have a husband who honors and is worthy to hold the priesthood. It was so nice to have family here!

So to finish this unorganized and choppy post, here are some of Harrison's likes/dislikes:

- he loves to be snuggled, which I love

- he likes taking showers, and baths are growing on him

- he still doesn't care much for a pacifier :(

- he doesn't like the drive from Missoula, MT to Dillon, MT, or any other travel for that matter

- he may or may not like his car seat

- he loves to coo and smile, especially when mom is around

- he likes whipped cream and jello (in very, very small amounts)

- he doesn't like to be on his back for very long

- he likes rodeo's and fireworks

- he loves to be rocked to sleep by his daddy

I cannot believe how big he is getting! My love for him grows everyday, and I am so elated that I have been blessed by such a beautiful boy! He really is a good baby.

AND NOW A WORD FROM McCord:

Ditto to what Olivia says about our beautiful son. I love that little buckaroo. It really is great to have him as part of our family. It is great to know that I have such a wonderful wife and fantastic son.

I really do not want to return to Moscow. It has nothing to do with school or the stresses that are coming in the next year, but it is more that I will be leaving the land that I really love. I will miss roping and watching Forest progress (I might take him to a ropin' before we head back to Moscow). If I didn't know that this was what the Lord had in the cards for my little family, and without the support of my wife and the rest of our family and friends, I don't think I could do it. Thanks to all ya'll. Pictures of Forest and some of the other events are forthcoming...

His cute, chubby legs during a nap.

Our first family photo :)

Eight Years Ago...

Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
when you're perfect in every way.
I can't wait to look in the mirror
cause I get better loking each day.
To know me is to love me
I must be a hell of a man.
Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
but I'm doing the best that I can.
I used to have a girlfriend
but she just couldn't compete
with all of these love starved women
who keep clamoring at my feet.
Well I prob'ly could find me another
but I guess they're all in awe of me.
Who cares, I never get lonesome
cause I treasure my own company.
Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
when you're perfect in every way,
I can't wait to look in the mirror
cause I get better looking each day
To know me is to love me
I must be a hell of a man.
Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
but I'm doing the best that I can.
I guess you could say I'm a loner,
a cowboy outlaw tough and proud.
I could have lots of friends if I want to
but then I wouldn't stand out from the crowd.
Some folks say that I'm egotistical.
Hell, I don't even know what that means.
I guess it has something to do with the way that I
fill out my skin tight blue jeans.
Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
when you're perfect in every way,
I can't wait to look in the mirror
cause I get better looking each day
To know me is to love me
I must be a hell of a man.
Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
but I'm doing the best that I can.
We're doing the best that we can.
-Oh, Lord, Its Hard to be Humble. Mac Davis

I used to sing this song, with a good friend, at the top of our lungs while warming up our horses before rodeos. I miss that friend, but i am thankful for his friendship, example and his great sense of humor. I live in the present, but it is necessary to sometimes look back on the past. Just remember that most of the important things come out in the wash, and that one of the best things in the world is a good laugh. Take care Mr. Perkins.

By the way...

Olivia and I have been married for 27 months! It is our 27th monthaversary. I have a habit of celebrating every month how long we have been married, usually by taking her out to dinner. Today's celebration might just be going to Church.

Wally is growing, he is an eating machine! Consequently, he has made some awesome poops. I will be posting pictures soon that show some of our most recent baby purchases, including a baby wrap carrier, one size fits all and it has sequins!

Well, off to get ready for Church!

Settling in...

We are starting to get in a routine with Harrison. He is eating more and Olivia is doing quite well. Right now both are asleep. I am not tired (crud, it is only 9pm). I thought I would give a quick update on things.

Today we took Harrison to his first doctor's appointment. He passed with flying colors. He turned bright red when the nurse took off his diaper to weigh him. He weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. He left the hospital at 7 lbs 6 oz. so we are gaining. You should have seen him yell, though. The color of his skin was red enough that I would have thought we dressed him in a WSU outfit, seriously, he was mad.

Last night we (Harrison and I) stayed in the new glider-rocker (thanks Grandma Holly and Grandpa Brent) until midnight. This is one nice chair, pictures will be forthcoming. Anyhow, we rocked for about two hours while Olivia took a much needed nap. Then we all laid down for sleep and Harrison woke up. Apparently he woke up every hour until 5am. I slept through all of those except the 5am call. Olivia handled it like a trooper, the only time she needed my help was with the 5am problem. Harrison slept better today and we even watched a movie tonight: Benny & Joon. That is a classic, Depp did a great job in that film.

Things are going good and we are slowly getting adapted and learning lots each day. This may sound corny, but this is one of the neatest things I have done. I hope all is well for all of you who are far from us, we miss all our friends that just left Moscow, as well as all our friends whom we have not seen for a long time, that goes ditto for all our family.

This weekend is Yard Day at Grandma Marj's. I wish I could be there, it really is one of my favorite traditions. There is nothing like getting together as a family and working. It is quite enjoyable.

Hiccups?

So it was 4 in the morning and Olivia was feeding Wally, however, he just wouldn't latch on. So I took him and started tapping the air out of him. He promptly began hiccuping. This is probably the cutest set of hiccups I have ever heard. Sorry I didn't get audio, but next time, maybe.

We will be checking out of the hospital today and going home. Sorry about not being very contactable, we have been trying to feed/rest the last 24 hrs. and it has been a trip. I promise we will catch up with all our voice mails.

Olivia is sore and stiff, but otherwise pretty good. Wally is getting this eating thing figured out. Risa has been a huge help. Nothing like experience to help see when a baby is full of air/won't eat, what a good grandma!

Thanks for all the support, verbal and otherwise. Thanks for your continued prayers. We hope Wally's cousin, Austin, gets feeling better. We love all ya'll!

Pictures!!!

The News

Harrison Walbridge Larsen was born at 10:25 am, P.S.T., after 2.5 hours of serious and intense labor. Olivia was such a tough girl! She missed a really good opportunity to beat me like a red-headed stepchild, she never did, nor did she cuss at me, even when I said "Well, this ain't as bad as I thought it would be."

He is 20 inches tall, and 8 lbs. When the nurse handed him to me I told her that he was probably 8 pounds, since he felt about the same as my 1895 Marlin 45-70. I was spot on.

Risa was here for the whole festivities. She was extremely helpful when Olivia was trying to feed for the first time. I was way out of my league. I mean, getting a calf to take a bottle is nothing to trying to get a little feller to start feeding.

His picture will be coming soon to the Gritman Stork Report.

All is well and we will have more news, and pictures, soon.

Morning Update:

No baby yet. However, things are still progressing. Will keep posting as things change...

Update:

We are in the hospital. Olivia just got done with the epidural. I was helping her and all was well, then I woke up. I dozed off for a few seconds, notice, that was not fainted, I fell asleep. Olivia didn't notice and when I woke up things were done. She is resting and we are gonna see some action soon. She is at a 6 and the nurse, Sally, just put down the rubber sheets. We are gonna have a baby boy here before morning. He must be his daddy's boy, since I like to work at night... More to come soon.

Here's to Mom:

Happy Mother's Day to all Mom's.

Olivia is ready to be a mom, but Wally is not ready to be out yet. Olivia's feet and legs are swollen and she cannot get comfortable at all. Poor girl. We got pre-registered at the Hospital and took a tour of the facility. Quite the deal. I hope we get to return to the hospital soon, for Olivia's sake. Of course, the nurse giving our tour said that the baby knows when it is time and there is usually good reason why they do not come until they are ready.

I know Olivia will be a great mother. She has good examples: Risa (Olivia's Mom), Lois (Olivia's Maternal Grandma), Holly (my Mom), Jean (my maternal Grandma), Marj (my paternal Grandma), Devonie, Michelle, Lindsay, Pat, and all our other friends and relations.

Be thankful for your mom today.

The Importance of Listening and Remembering

Often what I write on this blog is just me blowing off steam and making light of things. Today is not one of those days. Today is a bit more serious. Today is about listening and remembering.

Remember is probably one of the most important words in the English language and most definitely one of the most important in the Book of Mormon. Remembering is so vital to staying true to the faith and honest. One who remembers can reflect on things learned prior to the moment of need. If you remember where you came from and Whose you are, it is easier to live righteously.

Listening is important. Listening is more than just hearing. It is paying attention to what is being communicated. Communication can come from others or from the Holy Ghost. It is important to hear those words and then act on what is being said.

Today I had the opportunity to talk to Grandpa D. I miss him dearly. I grew up with Grandpa. Mom and Dad would drop me off and I would tag along with Grandpa all day. We had frequent trips to Milner, to town and good fishing trips. One of my favorite memories is when we rode the Oregon Trail together, Grandpa driving Freckles and Rainbow and me riding Tiny. What a time. I remember helping him around the house and in his shop. I love that shop and the smells of it.

Our conversation today was different, and I wish I would have said less and listened more. Usually we joke together and laugh a lot. Today, he seemed serious. Today, Grandpa was sharper in his speech than I have heard him in a long time. He asked me if there was anything I wanted to know from an older brain. He told me how much he loves me and that many people love me. He said that I need to stop trying and just do good. He also told me that he expects big things from me. He asked about Olivia and told me to tell her how much she is loved. He also told me that I would need to tell the baby how much he is loved by all of his family. He said he has finally got his head on straight, I told him it was about time, he said it was about time for me to do the same.

I wish I could have talked to him longer. I wish I could be there. I miss my grandpa. I have said this before, but I know that it is true: All that I am I owe to my family. Grandpa has been a huge part of my life. He and I have spent countless hours talking about life and how things are. He taught me how to serve the family and what it means to have good relationships with all the family. He used to tell me when I would depart from his home: "McCord, be a good boy!" I hope I can remember and listen to that advice.

Just in case Law School doesn't work out...

I just fixed our oven. It took me all of 15 minutes. I will remind you that a few months ago I wrote about the oven beeping in the middle of the night and waking me up. Well, I finally got around to fixing the problem. Diagnosis was a bad CPU board. It took me two minutes to order the part and then about thirteen minutes to install it once it showed up. If this was someone else's stove, I would have charged 90 bucks for the service call and 155 for the CPU. Yeah, that is right, in fifteen minutes I would have made 128. I have no shame in this. That could be as much as 512 an hour. That sounds way better than a measly 200 an hour as an attorney... Too bad fixing appliances doesn't pay like that every hour. I would totally drop law and go home to Burley.

In other news finals start on Monday. 8 am is the start time for Constitutional Law. This is going to be fun. Then on Wednesday at 8 the Evidence final. Then I am officially 2/3 of the way to being a J.D. degree holder.

In more important news, Olivia is swelling up and the meat thermometer that was her belly button has popped. I think she is ready for Harrison Walbridge to be on the outside of her body. I am excited to meet him, he sure is a mover, thus far. He can do some crazy moves in a very limited space. It is pretty neat. Remember, the big day is May 15th. However, one of our nurses is pretty sure Olivia will go into labor on the 7th. We shall see. I have already filed a contingency plan with the administrative faculty in case Olivia goes into labor during a final. Luckily, a birth does actually count as an emergency, so if he comes before a final starts, I can delay taking it for a while... However, I would rather be done with this crap sooner than later, by crap I mean law skool.

Well, I am off to bed, hopefully to gain some needed rest.

Twnty For

So, I was up all night writing a paper that was due today and I am writing this without using my backspace. I wasn t to see how good I can tyoe without correcting myself on 1.25 hours of sleep in the last 24 hours.

What I was most amazed is how fast time moves after on e oclock in the norning. I am here to tell you that when the closk struck one I was dragging hind end. However, as the mornig slid from night, I begant to workr with increased efficiency, I was genuienly impressed. The paper is howpefull a leiitel better than thia post. Woe, I have a topugh time operating withoug the delete button.

To update on the fanily, Oilvia is getting some swellling and we found out that she her family has a history of preeclampsia. Hopefully she will not have any problems, but any prayers on her bahalf, well, her and HW. would be greatfully apricieated.

Well , I think this experiemt has been a successes, I have proved that I would not make a good insomniac. Have a good day . I just got stopped in my typeinfg by a comment that my shirt made someone think they should be on vacation. I replied that I feel like I should be on vacation every day.