Park with the Cousins

Everyone went to the park today... everyone that is except me and Clara. We stayed home and slept in the blissfully quiet house. Mitchell and Sereen took some great pictures though and it looked like everyone had a great time. Apparently the guys started playing on the little merry-go-round thing and got as dizzy as they could. Sounds like typical guys to me, but Tammy and Lanae even got in on the action! I know Derek always loves going to the park, so I'm sure he had a great time and Bryce is finally getting big enough to play on some of the playground slides. Mitchell says Bryce took a while to warm up to the slide but by the time they were wrapping up to go home, he was sliding like a champ. 

 

I sure do love this sweet boy! He's getting so big! 

 

I love Jared's author's-picture-for-the-back-of-the-book pose. :)



Emeri and her sweet owl hat



 Logan and Grandma

 

 Grandma pushed Isaac, Logan and Preston on the tire swing

 

Bryce and Uncle Jared



Jared and Austin started it all...



...of course, it's hard to walk when you're really dizzy!



Mitchell's turn! 

 He ate it, too :)

 

Good thing Austin was there to catch her!



I wonder if Bryce liked this part...



Uncle David and Savanna



 Grandma helped Bryce get set up to slide

 

Whoa!



Guess Spiderman isn't sticky enough to defeat gravity



Derek loves his new Batman sweater. Unfortunately the mas doesn't stop at his nose like it's supposed to, it hits his lips or lower. Still, he makes a cute Batman!



Preston followed Savanna around trying to put her hat on. She couldn't care less.

 

 Sweet Savvie!

 

Uncle Superman and Superman!

Thanksgiving Dinner



This Thanksgiving is kind of blurry. It's been great having family here and not just because they let me sleep all day (minus time spent feeding Clara) and kept the boys entertained and supervised. Mitchell came to get me for dinner. I felt kind of bad for eating all this awesome food when I didn't even help cook or clean, but it was delicious! And to top it off, I was ushered right back into the bedroom to resume sleeping when dinner was done. These are the only pictures I got, but these kids sure are cute! We put the older kids at the two toddler tables and Emeri, Bryce and Savanna were in high chairs. So many kids! They were pretty well behaved, too. Pretty sure I'll never eat another Thanksgiving dinner as relaxing or hassle free. Well, unless we go to a buffet like we did last year. But that's another story.



 Emeri and Savanna snacked on delicious rolls before we sat down to eat

 

 Derek, Andrew and Logan enjoyed their feast at one of the toddler tables

 

What a beautiful spread! I felt very fancy as we drank sparkling grape juice out of Tammy's crystal glasses. Some of the mats were a shiny gold, too.

Coming Home

We're home! So glad to be back in familiar surroundings. We had to wait a several hours before we had all the necessary paperwork and doctor's ok's, but we finally got to put Clara in her sweet little going home outfit. I showed Tammy the original going home outfit which was a size 0-3 month which was the size that fit the boys going home, but she talked me into taking this newborn size outfit. Thank heavens! We weren't expecting such a petite little lady. I had fun watching Mitchell tenderly close the snaps on this squirming little one like he was a first time dad again. She already has both of us feeling very nervous about manipulating her little arms and legs into clothes, haha!

 

Dressing her up!

 

Oh the feel of soft, new clothes! Definitely not a fan of the hair bow.

 

 She's so expressive with her hands and long, delicate fingers

 

 Baby makes five!

 

 All the cousins begged and begged to hold her. Emeri was particularly enthusiastic. She screeched when we took Clara out of her arms and demanded we give her back, haha!

 

 

 Aunt Lizzie and Andrew with Clara

Staying at Nana's

 Bryce is having fun - I'm loving that elf bib!

Mom texted me a cute video of Derek playing in her huge Jacuzzi bath. He loves bathtime!

Clara Jane

Clara Jane was born today! Hooray! For those of you who want the short story, she was born at 2:39pm, 19.5 inches long and 7 lbs, 7 oz (and 7/10 oz)! Very healthy and lots of dark hair!

 

The traditional last-time-we-have-to-hug-bending-over picture!

Now for the slightly longer version. We reported to the hospital at 7 am for the induction. My awesome OB had asked Chris, the nurse who helped at Bryce's delivery, if she would be willing to come help with Clara's and she said yes! It was wonderful to see her again and she recognized us the minute she walked in the door. I got all hooked up to the monitors and got the IV placed after a couple tries and we waited for Dr. MacDonald to come up and break my water. I was negative for the group B strep test, so I didn't need any antibiotics. I wasn't very dilated or effaced, only 2 cm and 40% effaced, but we went ahead with the induction anyway. I decided to wait to get the epidural when I could be distracted by the contractions, since the epidural always freaks me out. I don't do needles, particularly huge ones uncomfortably near my spinal cord.

Dr. MacDonald broke my water and started my Pitocin around 8:30 and the contractions started at 9. I was able to get up and sit in a rocking chair to help me manage the contractions which was new for me. The contractions started to get closer together and much stronger at 11 so I decided to get my epidural then. Ugh, it wigs me out just typing about it, but the near instant relief always surprises me. You don't really notice how much you hurt til all the pain is taken away. I got through it and lauded the anesthesiologist, Dr. Troop, as "my hero." :) Chris monitored my heart rate and we didn't have as much of a problem with that as we did with Bryce, so that was great. We settled down to wait but things started really moving at 1 pm.

Christ checked me at 1 pm and I was 6 cm and 100% effaced. I hadn't moved as fast as I thought I was going to considering Clara is my third child, but Chris was confident I would progress quickly. Oh was she right. That was the most excruciating hour, since the epidural couldn't keep up with my progression and the contractions. My whole body started shaking and my teeth were chattering with the intensity of the labor. That was a really scary hour for me because I thought we were going to have a repeat of Derek's delivery. Mitchell stood by the bed holding my hand and stroking my hair which helped me stay calm and soothe my anxiety. Chris helped me breath through the contractions. When she checked me after an hour, I was complete at 10 cm and 100% effaced. Whew! Chris turned the Pitocin down so I could get a break while we called Dr. MacDonald and got the delivery tools all ready to go. That helped immensely and the contractions slowed to ten minutes apart.

I pushed through three contractions and Clara started crowning. I was a little startled by how quickly her delivery was going and Mitchell's excitement was a great motivator. Two more pushes and second degree tear later, Clara was born! Dr. MacDonald suctioned her out and then placed her on my chest. A nurse handed me a towel and helped me clean Clara's face and body. The nurses thought she was so cute trying to suck on her hands and, when I gave them the green light, they took her to the warmer to clean her up and weigh her. The nurses got yet another fun fact when they weighed her and found she weight seven pounds, seven ounces and seven tenths of an ounce, haha!

Hello sweet girl!

We are so grateful to all our friends and family who came to see us. It was wonderful to share our sweet Clara Jane with them, and a special thanks to my mom, Amy and Val for watching Derek and Bryce for three and half days while we were in the hospital. Derek and Bryce adore Clara already and I know they'll be fantastic big brothers.

Not happy with the big wide world

 



Mother and Daughter



Clara and Nana



Bryce and Aunt Val



I think Bryce missed me. :) He leaned back against me and just cuddled for a while.



Our little family and Chris! She delivered Bryce and now Clara. I'm loving this tradition and I really REALLY hope Chris and Dr. MacDonald can deliver my next baby. Love my team!



Nana, Clara, Derek and Bryce



Bryce and Papi



Clara and Aunt Val



Derek and Clara. He's so excited that she's finally here. When he walked in, he saw her and said, "Mom, look! Baby Clara is here!" So sweet. Bryce is still kind of oblivious. :)



Grandma and Clara. I think Clara has her profile.



Clara was not happy about her first bath, but she loved getting her hair washed.



The nurse didn't dry Clara's hair all the way, so Mitchell took it upon himself to brush and towel dry her hair. Tammy and I thought it was adorable. :)



The proud daddy and little daughter



Ally and Aunt Jenn came to visit too! I loved their accidentally matching outfits. Can't wait to do things like that with Clara. :D



Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Austin brought their kids to see Clara. The kids were so excited about the new baby.



I don't think she liked Mitchell taking so many pictures, haha!



Clara and Uncle Colton. This is his first time to see a brand new baby.



Our friends from church! Mallory and Kevin brought their little boy Bauer to see Clara. Bauer is a couple months older than Bryce and he is adorable! We love hanging out with these guys. :)

Almost Done!

Only 10 more days until Clara is here!

37 weeks 5 days

Birthday Letter to Bryce

Happy birthday, Brycie Bryce! You are a whole year old today! I am so glad you are in our family, sweet heart. You have reached so many milestones this year: first smiles, first giggles, sitting up, crawling, walking and now you aren't content with anything slower than a run. You are adored, son. Your older brother loves to make you laugh and you seek him out at any opportunity. Your father sometimes squeezes you a little too tight when he gets home from work just to hear your happy squeals. Your mother cuddles you a little too often for your liking sometimes, but she's just getting them in while you still fit on her lap. You're growing so fast, you'll soon outgrow her lap, son! You're already wearing 18 month old shirts and even then, some of them are too short. Your sweet little legs are still in 9-12 month shorts, though. We love to see you dink dink dink around the house chasing your brother or pulling the books off the shelves. You love to look at books, though you are too impatient to hear the words read to you. I've never seen your beat for love of stuffed animals and blankets. You get so excited when you find a soft blanket and you have to have one when you go to bed. Stuffed animals are usually preferred to cars, unless Derek gives you one of his cars. Bryce, I hope you always remember that you a son of God. He loves you, we love you and we're so grateful that He sent you to us. Happy birthday, sweet heart!

Birthday burgers for the birthday boy! Cake will be this weekend. :)

Derek Conducts the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

 

Derek enjoyed conducting the MoTab today. :)