Leah's First Smile

First, let me say that Leah has always been a very smiley baby. I understand that for a while, these smiles don't mean much and aren't in reaction to anything I do, however she smiled all the time and it was just cute to see.

However at 5 weeks old, I was holding her on my lap while talking to her and she suddenly starts flashing me these big, bright smiles. I stopped. Listened. Is she passing gas? She just ate so I know she's happy, but still. They looked like REAL smiles! I yelled for Adrian and he came over and we both sat there and talked to Leah in those annoying high voices that babies adore- and there she was just smiling away! So I did what any normal mom would do and I grabbed the camera!

The lighting was bad so most of the shots were blurry, however I did manage to get some great ones. I'm so happy I was able to capture those first few smiles!

Sibling Love

I have to say, one of the things I love most about having 4 children is watching them interact with each other. I think having siblings teaches you many things- one of those is an increased capacity to love {and later, an increased capacity to drive each other crazy.} As Leah is so young, we are still knee-deep in the love stage. It's fun watching Thomas express his soft side and watching Hailey be so maternal.

Leah, Glimpses into weeks 2-6

 We continued to get acclimated to life with 4 kids and actually, it was easier than I thought it would be! Here are some fun picts that show a glimpse into how life has been...

All while I was pregnant with Leah, I felt this little foot in the very right side of my stomach. It was crazy- it'd poke out super hard, then move all around, etc. After she came out, I got some great shots of her crazy legs!

We had her first appointment at 3 weeks. she weighed in at 7 lbs 10 oz and was 21.75" long.

The kids still love her to pieces. they are so helpful- getting me a diaper or a new blanket. We haven't had any sort of jealousy issues or anything so cross our fingers we bypassed that whole possibility altogether!

Her cord stump took forever to fall off! Finally at 13 days it did and we were able to give her a bath! We opted for the kitchen sink. Seems like she was OK with the whole process. She didn't cry, but then again she didn't seem to love it either.

She is such a wonderful cuddler. She'll nuzzle into you until she's crammed up into your neck or face or wherever she finds warmth. She doesn't like changing her clothes and cries when I take to long to get ready to feed her. She loves to bounce, which has given both Adrian and I really strong arm muscles. :)

Leah Arrived...7 weeks ago!

Ok, so I'm a bit behind...but the obvious reason is- Leah arrived! She was born 7 weeks ago, on Sunday, November 13th at 6:00 pm.

In a nutshell, I began having contractions during the day on Saturday the 12th. I went about my day like normal but by about 4:30pm, I commented to Adrian how regular the contractions were and wondered if I should start timing them. So we did- and they were about 10 minutes apart! They stayed that way for a while and so I took a bath and walked around the house, packing the rest of my hospital bag and trying to distract myself. The contractions fizzled out, then came back again and I just felt exhausted, so I went to bed.

All through the night however, I had contractions. They were getting more intense and by morning, I knew I was in labor. I went to the bathroom and had some bleeding, which further solidified that statement- this was it!

After my super fast labor with Colin, Adrian and I had decided to labor at the hospital this time, so I called the midwife and we went in at about 10am. I was dilated to a 3, then progressed to a 4 after walking around the hospital a bit. We made the decision to break my water, which was so painful! I guess the bag of waters was super strong this time around, so it took a lot more effort than it should have.

I labored on the birthing ball, walking around the room, even laying down occasionally. It was really hard labor but by 4pm, when I hadn't made much progress, I opted to lay in the tub for a while. I had about 10 minutes of rest in there, then the contractions came fast and furious. That really sped things up! It took a lot of effort to get through each one. About an hour later, I was dilated to a 6, then not long after that, an 8. Soon I felt the urge to push, so we got out of the tub and 20 minutes later, Leah was born! She was 6 lbs 11 oz and 21.5 inches long. My biggest baby by 1/2 a pound!

Adrian was home for the first 2 weeks, which helped tremendously. So far, the transition to 4 kids hasn't been that bad. The kids adore her and are very helpful. The hardest part is dealing with the lack of sleep! It's finally getting better though, thank heavens.

Leah is such a cute baby! She was very quiet for about a week, then suddenly let us know just how great her lungs work. She's a fantastic nurser though so I've had a very easy time with that. More to come on how she's doing!

Halloween 2011

I wanted to post about Halloween before this baby makes her grand entrance, because I know if I wait and she comes, well, chances are I'll post about Halloween more towards Easter.

The kids were thankfully agreeable to a more modest Halloween this year. They all used costumes we had on hand, which was so nice. Thomas protested a bit, so we told him that if he wanted a new costume, we'd pay half and he'd have to use his allowance to pay the other half. Suddenly he was perfectly fine with being Optimus Prime!

We decorated Halloween cookies the week before then carved pumpkins the day of Halloween. Cousins Elise and Cameron came over to trick-or-treat together, which was a lot of fun!

A friend of mine made me this cute Halloween shirt. Isn't it fun?! If you don't get it, I'll explain- it's a Twilight reference. The new movie comes out 2 days after my due date, and it's the one where Edward & Bella have a baby. See how the timing is perfect?! I got comments on it everywhere I went, which was pretty funny.

Meet Sammy the Salamander

I don't know what it is about our backyard, but we find the craziest things in it. The neighbors get the normal ladybugs and grasshoppers- we get praying mantis' and, our latest find- salamanders!

The kids found Sammy and he stuck around for a couple of days. They really enjoyed seeing where he'd turn up next. Ick!

We used the opportunity to do some reading on salamanders- first in an effort to figure out what our little friend was, then to figure out what he eats. Yep, good ole Sammy had a buffet of sorts as they kids tried to get him to dine in the underside of a frisbee. {It was a no-go.} We did find out salamanders are in the frog family as opposed to the lizard-snake family. That makes me feel somewhat better about walking around our backyard without any shoes on.

37 weeks down, 3 to go!

Since it's close to Halloween, I thought I'd scare everyone with a bare belly shot at 37 weeks. Loving the glare from the flash and the lovely line down the center of my ENTIRE belly. That just happened to show up a couple days ago. I told Adrian it'd better be the FINISH line!

I had another appt this morning {I feel like I live there lately!} and found out I'm 2cm dilated, at -2 station and 60% effaced. Progress! I was telling Adrian last week I'll probably go overdue because it seemed like NOTHING even hinting at my body preparing for labor was happening. However, in the past few days I've had a ton more contractions and cramps. Nice! I'll give it another week and a half before I start doing squats and running up and down the stairs. Oh, and the neighbors have a trampoline, I'll have to give that a go too. ;)

May the Force be with You

 Lately Thomas has taken quite a liking to Star Wars, and of course, Colin follows right along! So suddenly the Transformers have taken a back seat to light sabers and the boys are running around in Star Wars gear. What I thought might be a passing fad has now morphed into a real obsession. Adrian's thrilled. Me? Don't tell anyone, but I've never been able to even sit through all of the movies. I mean, in my defense, there are what- 83 of them?!

Colin got a light saber for his birthday and used some birthday money to buy the Darth Vader helmet. I think they both look super cute during their little battles. I swear I saw a light saber on Adrian's Christmas list too.

35 Weeks and Counting!

The end is near! I can feel it! I hit the 35 week mark last week and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thank heavens too, I don't know how much more I can take of this pain in my ribs. Little girl needs to DROP!

Other than the normal aches and pains, I'm actually doing very well. Baby girl is measuring right on track, which is not normal for me! Normally this is where I start getting more ultrasounds and Non-Stress Tests because I'm measuring small. Not so this time! Everything really looks perfect. My blood pressure is normal and there are no other causes for concern. Odd! I've never had an end of pregnancy quite like this! I'll take it though.

We've just about got everything ready for her arrival. I normally try and have stuff done by 36 weeks. Hailey came on her own at 38w and Colin, at 39w3d. I know I have a few more weeks, but I have big plans to spend those weeks laying around eating bon bons. Until I hit 39 weeks, then I'll walk as many stairs as I can manage and pray I go into labor!

I just finished up a few more things in the girl's room today, so I'll have to get Hailey to pick up her toys and I'll take some more pictures of it. It's cute!

Colin's 3rd Birthday

Colin turned 3 in early October. He's been super excited about his birthday for weeks. One morning he ran up to me and said, "Mom! I'm almost 5!" I reminded him he was actually turning 3 to which he replied, "Mom, what's after 3? {4} and what's after 4? {5} See! I'm almost 5!" Ok babe, whatever you say.

We took the kids to play at Hollywood Connection a few days before his birthday. It's a fun little place and I can't remember if I brought the camera but forgot to take pictures, or that I just forgot the camera entirely, but we have no record of the event whatsoever. So you'll just have to trust me- we went, we had fun!

The day of his birthday we had family over in the evening for cake and ice cream. Unlike Thomas, Colin isn't afraid to show his love of chocolate. I asked him several questions about his cake and he replied, "chocolate" to them all. So that's what he got- a "Death-By-Chocolate" cake. Yum!

 Colin got a few dollar bills in cards and he cracked us up! He has zero concept of paper money at this point and he'd let every single bill fall to the floor each time, like it was a piece of garbage. "why do people keep putting these green papers in my cool cards?!"

Just after blowing out the candles, I tried to get every one's attention for a quick "look over here!" picture. Everyone cooperated, except for Colin. Can you see what he's doing instead?! Little stinker!

Thomas' Baptism

Being as Thomas turned 8 this year, the next big event was his baptism! In the LDS faith, kids are baptized when they're 8. It's considered an "age of accountability" and is a pretty neat event. We had his on Saturday, September 24th. The place was packed- we had lots of family come, but being as it was a Stake baptism day, 8 kids from other wards were also being baptized. Thankfully, we got to go first!

Adrian performed the baptism as family gathered around and watched. We felt so blessed to have so many family members there! This side of the family is getting pretty big! I remember when there was only adults...now the kids outnumber us!

We had a luncheon across the street at the clubhouse afterwards. It was a fun occasion. Long day, but fun!