BABY GIRL HAS ARRIVED!!!

Yes, I know I am WAY behind. Side effects of having a newborn in the house. Sleep deprivation is not conducive to getting anything done. Or getting anything done in a timely manner.

Ok, onto the baby girl! I had been scheduled to be induced on a Saturday morning, so had to be at the hospital Friday night. We were getting ready to leave and the hospital called to say too many ladies in active labor came in. I was a little sad but it all ended up working out alright in the end, so it wasn't too bad.

Saturday night a friend came over to stay at the house with the sleeping boys while Tim took me to the hospital. (She also took them Sunday morning so Tim could be with me). I got checked in, poked, prodded, hooked up to things and was given my first dose of "the slurry" before Tim left around midnight. "The slurry" is some "tasteless" drink that helps the body get ready to have the baby. It tasted like aspirin dissolved in water to me. It wasn't the worst thing ever but definitely not tasteless! I had a dose at midnight, 2 am and 4 am. I was checked at 6 am and told I was far enough along I wasn't getting another dose. Apparently you cannot be induced less than 3 hours after having a dose of "the slurry". I was fine with that. I also found out when I had checked in I was at a 2 1/2, so I think the little girl would have come on her own, just a little bit later.

My OBGYN was on call at the hospital that weekend. That was really nice. She came in a little after 7 am, checked me, stripped my membranes, broke the water and left. The nurse came in 10 minutes later to tell me my doctor was doing a C-Section and then would be in. I informed her Dr. Sherman had just been in and she looked surprised. Tim and I were surprised she was already in a C-Section so quickly.

A few minutes before the epidural came, our friend Debbie made it to the hospital. She has been with us at every delivery and it has been great. She came with us to Pach's in case of an emergency C-Section and has been at every one since. It gives both Tim and myself peace of mind to have someone else there. And since family is so far away, she has come. And she is more like an aunt now.

The anesthesiologist came in to give me an epidural. I've had 4 and they seem to get slower and slower with each one! With Pach, the guy put in the epidural  in between contractions. He was super quick. Maybe 1 minute. Pickle's wasn't much longer than that either, maybe 5 minutes. Bacon's was longer, about 15 minutes and it got everything from my abdomen down numb but not my abdomen. The lady came back in and gave me another dose completely. That worked but then I was also numb for 12 hours after delivery. With the girl the guy took 20 minutes!!!! I was dying! Ok, not really but contractions without the water barrier are not fun nor pleasant. He explained quite a few things, which I guess balanced out taking so long. And Tim and I found out why I got so numb in all the wrong places with Bacon: I sat up after I got the epidural. The medicine follows the law of gravity, so when I sat up it went to my legs, hence, I was numb abdomen down but no numb abdomen.

I got to 10 cm pretty quickly and by 11 am, everyone was in the room and I was pushing. I pushed once and Tim looked at me and said, "I've never seen a baby with so much hair!" That's saying something since all the boys had quite a bit of hair. The doctor agreed. I knew she must have had a ton of hair because the doctor has delivered hundreds of babies. I pushed a second time and both Tim and the doctor said they'd never seen a baby move so fast. Yep, the little girl wanted out. I then have a half-hearted push and out she came, at 11:06 am. A beautiful little girl with a head full of thick black hair. I got to hold her for a minute and then she was taken over to get weighed, measured and wiped up.

She weighed in at 7 lbs. 6 oz. Smallest baby. And the easiest to deliver. She knew my voice and perked up and would turn her head in the direction from which my voice came. Tim got to hold her as did our friend Debbie before I got her back. Of course she then decided to make life all the more exciting and turned blue. Yep, her face turned blue. I was quite proud of myself that I didn't scream or panic. I simply said, with great urgency, "Um, she's turning blue. She's turning blue. Hurry." The nurse came right over and she was fine. Because of that she ended up in NICU for a little bit and went back again before we went home. The second time was just to make sure she was completely fine.

The first time the boys came to visit, they LOVED her. Bacon wanted to hold her and feed her. He climbed right up on the hospital bed and put his hands out. He held her for a couple seconds and then said, "I'm done" as he shoved her away. Yes, a little scary. Pickle held her for a lot longer and didn't want to share. Pach was more reserved. He's not a big fan of hospitals but he did hold her. They are wonderful big brothers.

A couple days later, after a hearing test retake, pictures and visits from some wonderful friends, the boys came to take us home.

Little Girl and mommy.

Little girl and daddy.

The whole family.

The hearing test.

This one just cracks me up.

Pickle and his sister. 

 

Pach and his sister. He was so excited for a sister. He said he knew
we were going to have a girl because that's what he voted for.

Bacon and his sister. 

My life in a picture. 3 crazies and a calm one.

Little girl and her coming home outfit. 

 

All snuggly and ready for home.

Easter

We had a fun Easter this year. We talked to the boys about why we celebrate Easter, to make sure they know it's more than dying eggs and getting candy. Pach and Pickle get it. Bacon is still getting there but he will someday.

We started the festivities by dying eggs, which they always love. Each got 4 this year and had a great time. Bacon didn't try to drink the liquid this year and there were no messes, so it was a success!! Last year he did try to drink the colored vinegar/water mixture. He didn't like it.

Sunday morning we had an Easter Egg Hunt with the boys cousin, Baby Jessie (who is not a baby and not name Jessie either. The boys gave her that name after Jessie on Toy Story). She caught on quickly and they all had a lot of fun. The boys made sure Jessie had eggs and helped her find some. They'll be great with their little sister next year.

Easter Baskets.

Baby Jessie, Bacon, Pach and Pickle.

Baby Jessie searching for eggs.

Searching for eggs.

Still searching.

More searching.

Enjoying the spoils.

Tim's Birthday!!!

Tim had a fun birthday this year and..... THE CAKE TURNED OUT!!!!

It started with a trip to the race track and him driving a little Miata race car. For Christmas, I had given him a coupon to drive a race car on a track and he decided his birthday was the perfect time to redeem it. We all went with him and the boys enjoyed watching dad race around the track. I could tell with the more laps he completed, the more comfortable he was. At first there were no tires screeching and by the last lap, the tires squealed for "quite a bit" of time going around a certain corner.

After that, we headed to the grocery store and that's where Tim got a call from his sister, who, along with her husband, flew down from Washington for Tim's birthday and Easter. We met them at a restaurant called Hot Rods, not far from where we live. The boys LOVE it there because of all the old hot rods there. Rich, the brother-in-law, restored a mustang and gladly went on a little tour of the place given to him by our boys. All of them were really happy. Surrounding the restaurant area, is a garage bay where you can actually watch people working on their hot rods.

We headed back to our place after lunch and Tim was presented with his present from Kim (sister) and Rich: A STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE!!!! It's Tim's favorite pie and my two attempts have completely failed. This one was fabulous! They had made it the night before, frozen it and carried it on the plane just for Tim. It was so kind of them and so yummy as well.

Tim's other sister and her family arrived Friday night from Mexico. We decided to go to the Pima Air and Space Museum for Tim's actual birthday, which was on Saturday. Saturday morning came and most everyone got ready and headed out to see a lot of airplanes. Our brother-in-law from Mexico ended up in Thatcher and I ran errands to get the last minute things for meals and to finish Tim's cake. And as luck would have it, THE CAKE TURNED OUT!!!! Sometimes it doesn't turn out well and I usually end up feeling bad. Tim is the cake engineer and most of the time I don't think my offerings would even qualify me for "apprentice" status. I would probably end up fired.....

That night, after dinner, we did cake and presents. The boys got him a few books and crazy cycling socks. I got him some new Bose Headphones, as his other ones broke awhile ago. We sang to him, at the scrumptious homemade chocolate cake with candy bar bits in the middle and watched the boys play with the music card which played "We Will Rock You". Everyone had a really nice time.

Game faces on and ready to cheer for dad!

He's just happy to be near a race car!

The race car: a Miata. 

Getting ready....

Buckled in and ready to roll!

Out on the course.

His spoils.

Crash Test Dummy cycling socks.

Being silly and getting help from the giver.

Being silly and getting help from the giver.

Getting a book he wanted.

The yummy cake!!! Kit-Kat and Reese's Peanut Butter cup on top.

Always getting help. Our wishes always come true!

IT'S A..... You'll have to read to find out (unless you already know)

After my trip to Omaha, I found out I was pregnant. Of course I didn't tell anyone but Tim. We held onto our secret for awhile. I have to say it was a bit harder this time around because this pregnancy was a bit different than the others.

I had never been the least bit nauseous with the boys. Not even for one day. I never had morning sickness. I was always a little more tired at a certain point but that was all. With my little men, hiding the pregnancy until I wanted to share the news had always been quite easy. Not so with this little one!

 About 6 weeks in the nausea hit. It wasn't too bad. My doctor's office gave me a bunch of info on all sorts of things, including a bookmark with tips for managing the morning sickness. I would actually start out the day feeling great. No hint of anything at all. As the day wore on and evening came though, I usually felt terrible! I followed the tips given to me and that did help greatly. I drank lots and lots of cold Ginger Ale and ate lots of small little meals loaded with carbs. It worked! Although coaching soccer made it a little harder. I didn't want to tell anyone but almost broke down and did! Soccer practices were a bit rough with 8 little kids and that nauseous feeling!

Also, I wasn't ridiculously hot! With the boys I was hot ALL.THE.TIME! And really hot at that! I would go out in shorts and a t-shirt in 40 - 50 degree weather and be just fine. Anything above that I would be overly hot! Not so with this one. I was FREEZING most of the time! It really got difficult to hide the little bump as my clothes started getting too small around the waist. I am now hot most of the time but the weather is in the upper 70's, so I guess I should be, right?

Finally at Christmas, we let everyone know we were going to be adding another little one to our family next year. Some family members and friends already knew but the majority didn't. I finally broke out the maternity clothes around that time too. I am happy to say that now, the pants will stay up! When I pulled them out at Christmas, my belly was too big for my regular pants but not big enough to keep my maternity pants up all the way. They kept sliding down. But on the plus side, it helped people figure out very quickly I was pregnant.

Monday January 13, Tim took the day off. We dropped the kids off at a friends house and off we went for our 20 week ultrasound. I was so anxious and excited. I was hoping for a little girl but figuring a boy would be the answer. I mean, after 3 boys, what are the chances of having a little girl? We just figured we would have 4 boys and that would work well. Pach and Pickle would end up in one room together, Jake and the little one would end up in another room together. We wouldn't have to buy anything really. It would be pretty simple, minus a name. We did not have a boys name.

As I was laying there watching, I got more nervous. We saw the head, the legs, the arms all that. Then it was time for the anatomy. Of course we wanted to know. I had huge plans for the room if it was a girl. Smaller plans (just new curtains) if it was a boy. I hated the ones that were in there. Found out later Tim hated them too! Communication would have fixed that. Hahahahaha!

The ultra sound tech glided over the anatomy and stopped. She said, "It's a girl." Honestly, if you had asked before that moment how I would have reacted I probably would have said, "I'll scream and yell and be so excited!" Well, I just laid there and thought, "Really? Did I just see that right?" It was a very surreal moment for me. The tech moved on quite quickly. I should have asked her to go back so I could stare at the screen but I didn't. As she continued on to get more pictures, the tech kept saying, "She's not moving, you might have to come back" and "I can't get a good picture of her head since your belly button is in the way". Well, that last remark made me think, "Yep, that's my girl. Let's be uncooperative with the ultra sound. That's the way all the kids were. She'll fit right in."

It didn't really sink in that we are having a girl for a week or so. We did stop and get paint and looked at fabric for curtains on the way home but even then it didn't seem real. I had even started painting the room but kept thinking, is it really a girl? I've looked at the ultra sound picture enough to know it's a girl. After 3 boys there are just some things you recognize and can see that makes you know for sure, they are going to be boys. All those things are missing.

So yep, WE ARE HAVING A GIRL!!! She is due May 31 but I am hoping she wants to be really kind and sweet to her mom and come a little bit earlier than that. One, I'd like to have birthday's a bit farther apart. Second, she LOVES to kick my bladder. I wouldn't mind a week or two less of that than is planned right now. I do LOVE feeling her move around and kick though. It's such a great feeling and I wish everyone could have the opportunity to feel it. It's about the only thing I like about being pregnant.

Christmas 2013

Almost caught up!

Christmas was great this year! The boys had so much fun and LOVED opening their presents.

I made the boys BYU pajama pants, thinking they would love them. Only Bacon wears his. I guess I'll make something else for them this year!

Pach made quite the leap this year with gift giving. He put A LOT of thought into what he wanted to get everyone. It was really quite sweet. He did a little help thinking of what to get Dad but he really wanted to get everyone something they would like.

Our annual Christmas ornament. 

Letter for Santa. He especially loved the homemade peanut butter cup and
peppermint bark. Yum, yum!

Pach and the advent calendar.

Ready for bed so Santa will come!

Santa has come. We're ready to open the presents!

First were our "stockings". 

Pach opening a present from Santa.

Pickle opening a present from Santa.

Bacon opening a present from Santa.

Baby Dino got a new Christmas Sweater. He never gets left out.

Dad opening his present from Pach. Of course, he needed help.

Pickle's present to dad. Dad needed some help.

Bacon helping dad open the present from him. Dad just can't open
these by himself. Wrapping jobs are adult proof or something! :)

Me and my 80's Glam Sharpies!! LOVE THEM!!

Everybody helping dad open another present.

We opened a present from Pach. And he took a great picture of us too!

The boys "ooohhhing" and "aaahhhing" over the table dad made them.
Now they have a place to play cars and Legos!

Thanksgiving 2013

Yes, I am still playing catch up from last year!!!

Thanksgiving was fun. This year Tim's sister and her family from Mexico came up for the holiday.

We had a feast and then after we had napped, Tim and the boys put up the Christmas tree and we decorated a lot of the house. Not all of it but some. The boys had a great time, as usual. They LOVE decorating for any holiday but especially Christmas.

Pachman's Lego Turkey.

Close up shot of homemade cranberry sauce.

They look thrilled, don't they?

Everyone is ready to feast. 

Cute little Bacon and Pachman being silly.

Handsome Pachman.

Crazy Pickle. Can always count on him for a funny
or crazy picture.

No Thanksgiving is complete without olives on your fingers.

Bacon deep in thought. 

This one just made me laugh. I love his "enthusiastic" face!!