oh happy day

Welcome to the World Little One!

He's here! He is actually here! I thought this pregnancy was never going to end. It was a LONG 9 months, but so worth it! I am in baby heaven! I don't want to put this little guy down and miss a second of this newborn bliss. I want to soak it all up. The newborn stage does not last long enough! I am so happy! We are all so happy to have this new little baby in our family. Nothing more to say than Pure JOY!!

So, little man was born on Tuesday March 19th at 5:16 a.m. I was scheduled to be induced that day ( a few days before my due date), but he decided he wanted to come on his own. So Monday night I went to bed early hoping to get a good nights sleep, but Andy stayed up late watching a movie. Around 1:30 a.m. I started feeling a little cramping, but nothing major. I started watching the clock and noticed that it happened every 10 minutes on the dot, and they started to get a little stronger. At about 2:30 I decided to get up and take a shower and get ready just in case. I woke Andy up and warned him that we might be going in early. He was half asleep and said "what? right now? I just went to sleep! We can't go yet." and he turned over and went back to sleep. lol. I got all ready and woke Andy up a little after 3:00 a.m. and told him it was time to get ready. We got to the hospital at about 4:00 a.m. and I still wasn't in a whole lot of pain but the contractions were very consistent, about 7 minutes apart at this time. The hospital has a reputation for turning induction patients away if they get too busy, so when I told the nurses I was in labor, I think they thought I was just trying to make sure I got in for the induction that day. They seemed a little skeptical. The nurse took me to my room and asked me when I was last checked. I was at 3cm Monday morning. So she decided NOT to check me at that time because I was only a 3 the day before. But I told her that I have quick labors. She hooked me up to the machine to "see what was going on". After about 20 minutes she came back in and said "You are really doing this, huh? I guess I will check you now." She checked me and I was at 5cm but totally effaced and my water was ready to burst. She said as soon as my water broke, the baby was going to come pretty quick. So, she said she was going to go make some phone calls and get the doctor and anesthesiologist to come in. Ummm, good idea! By this time the contractions were really picking up and I was hurting. I had one really hard contraction and my water broke, and it was pretty much all over by this point. The pain was unbearable and the baby was coming, which meant no time for an epidural. I kind of freaked at this point. NEVER in my life would I have considered giving birth without an epidural! The pain was intense and I didn't know how to handle it, so I screamed....loud. I couldn't stop screaming. I never understood why the women in the movies screamed. Now I get it! After lots of screaming and a few pushes, baby was born and I felt instant relief. I was exhausted. But I did it! It was the most amazing feeling of accomplishment, and there was something surreal and spiritual about it. A totally different experience than with my other kids. There is something about actually laboring to bring a sweet spirit into this world. It was the best/worst experience of my life. I think I would even consider doing it again believe it or not. The best part is that I felt amazing after. The recovery has been 10 times easier this time. It was great to actually be able to walk to the bathroom right after giving birth and to actually be able to pee. :)

Anyways, back to the baby. He is PERFECT!!! I love him so much!! He weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces and was 21 inches long. He didn't make a peep when he came out. The cord was wrapped around his neck twice, but he was just fine. He is one week old now, and still has hardly made a peep. He is a happy peaceful little man. And did I mention he is pretty dang cute!!!

We are still working on his name. Why is it so hard for us to decide?? I have been through a huge list of names trying to find the right one. Nothing seems to fit. Andy really wants to name him Grant Aaron. I like it okay, but I am not sold on it. Yesterday I did finally find a name that felt good to me. Noah Grant. Andy actually likes the name too ( the first name that we BOTH agree on), but he has a cousin named Noah, so he is not sure he wants to do that (he also has a cousin named Grant I should add. He has like 80 cousins though, so it is a little hard).

Noah meets the Fam at the Hospital

I don't know why, but I always cry when the other kids come in the hospital room to meet the new baby for the first time. I cried when Avery walked in to meet Andrew, when Avery and Andrew walked in to meet Livi, and now when they all came in to meet Noah. It is such a tender moment. I think I just feel such an immense gratitude and love for my sweet little family and I get a glimpse of the eternities. Newborns bring such a sweet spirit with them. I love knowing that they just left the presence of so many amazing spirits in heaven awaiting their turn on earth. I am so humbled by God's plan and the love he has for us. Families truly are central to His plan of happiness!

the kids checking out their new baby brother

Meeting Aunt Brookie! We are SO grateful that she came all the way to England to help us!!

One proud big brother!

Avery and baby Noah

Livi is finally a BIG sister! She can't wait to help me take care of him!

A father/son moment

So fresh and new!

Cute Wrinkly feet!

Andrew Jeffrey!

Andrew is 6! He was so excited for his birthday and couldn't stop talking about it for days. He kept reminding me of all the things I needed to do for his birthday and telling me to put it on my to do list.

Andrew is such a good boy. there really is no other word to describe him. He is just so good. He wants to choose the right and make us happy. He is a very good obeyer most of the time. He loves to have a clean room and is such a good helper. He cleans the toilets for me every week and takes out the trash. He wakes up happy every morning with a big smile on his face. He loves to snuggle and give kisses. He is such a lover. Andrew also has a strong spirit about him. He loves to learn about the gospel and has a good understanding of things. Andrew is a little OCD about things, but it just makes him all the more loveable. One thing he obssessess over is toys. He will be introduced to a new toy and eat, sleep, breathe it until the next thing comes along. This year he has gone through pokemon (he memorized all the cards and could tell you anything about them), Bakugans, Bey blades, Ninjagos, and now Hero Factory. He gets so excited about them and will talk your ear off about them. Drew is also a very smart kid. At his parent teacher conference his teacher had nothing but good things to say about him and asked if she could have more kids like him. :) He is an amazing reader. Santa brought him his first magic tree house chapter book, which we thought would be a little advanced for him. One night over Christmas break he fell asleep at 6:00pm. We thought he was out for the night, but his sisters woke him up at about 9:00. We told him to read in his bed. An hour and a half later he came out of his room and said he had finished the book! I was totally shocked! Since then he has read 4 more of the magic tree house series and loves it.

We had a Ninjago party this year. Nothing like 10 six year old boys running around being Ninjas! He was most excited about his sensei wu piñata.

Practicing his ninja moves!

The kids made paper ninja stars and then we had a little throwing contest

Big Birthday hug from little sis

There are some boys in the ward who take karate, and I had them come over and teach the kids some moves. It was really funny to watch!

Super Ninja Livi

Green Ninja cake

He wanted Coco puffs for his birthday breakfast!

It snowed, it snowed, it snowed, last night!

Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam!

Livi has officially graduated from Nursery and today is her first day in Sunbeams!! She is so excited to be in Primary with Avery and Andrew. Here she is waiting patiently for church to start so she can go to her new class! :)

Christmas 2012

waiting to come down the stairs on Christmas morning

Chrsitmas is my most favorite time of the year. I love the meaning and the magic of Christmas. I love traditions and making memories. I try to do as much as I can to keep the spirit of Christmas alive and help the kids feel and know the significance of the Christmas season. This year was pretty mellow, but lots of fun. The kids didn't get out of school until the 21st which made things feel a little rushed.
Avery's Christmas list this year made me laugh. She wanted an IPad, her own cell phone, an Smartboard to play school with, her own computer, or a horse. I said sorry, not a chance. She said she would just ask Santa then and I told her that Santa wouldn't bring anything that the parents didn't say was okay. She was sad, but okay with that answer. So, she decided to ask Santa for some Barbies. that we can handle. :) Drew is easy to please and happy with anything and everything. He loves his toys and is easy to buy for. He wanted Santa to surprise him. Santa brought him a new bike!
Livi was very specific in her request. She wanted a pink train with flowers on it. Luckily Santa was able to deliver!

Avery got a new bike from Mom and Dad

Andrew made us a calendar for 2013

Andy has become the breakfast man. He wakes us up every morning and makes breakfast while we read scriptures. The kids love seeing daddy before he goes to work. They got him a new waffle maker.