Happy birthday Hannah

Yesterday was Hannah's birthday and I can hardly believe she's already 8. Last night when I was tucking her in bed and told her 'Happy Birthday' she said the cutest thing. She said, "this is the anniversary of when you became a mother." And she's right, 8 years ago, I became a mother for the first time. What an 8 years it has been! Sometimes it's hard to remember what my life was like before kids. I forget sometimes - okay, almost all of the time - what a miracle it is to have her. About 9 years ago, in fact, our R.E. (that's a reproductive endrocrinologist or fertility dr.) told us that even with all the medical help we could get, we had a 15% chance of having biological children and we were taking classes with LDS Family Services to start the adoption process. And a few months later I found out I was pregnant with her (and now we have 4! Who would've believed it?) I guess miracles still happen because we've had 4 of them, but I have to remember that it all started with my Hannah-bird.

Anyway, I took her to get her ears pierced for her birthday and she did great - even though they had to do them one at a time. Tomorrow is her party - I'll have to post pictures of that (if I ever get around to it - it's getting harder and harder to blog lately, let alone even check my emails).

We are making her a baptism book and these are the two pictures my dad attached to his letter for her. I love both of them. And her book is going to be SO cute - so if you haven't done a page for her yet, you have a few more days to get it to me! And THANK YOU to those who have already done it.

At 7 or 8 months - one of my FAVORITE pictures of her.

When she was in 1st grade (last year) my parents were here visiting and one day, we got McDonald's and took to it school to have lunch with her.

***Happy 8th birthday Hannah! We love you!***

4 weeks

Okay, so I actually meant to post this picture yesterday since Eric was 4 weeks old yesterday, but it was busy and I just didn't get to it until today. But since he wasn't born until after 4 pm, I guess he's still "officially" 4 weeks old until later today. It's making me crazy how big he's getting already and how much he's changed in such a short time. I need it to stop. right. now.

Don't you LOVE the little Wolf on his outfit? When I saw this Wolf line at Gymboree, I had to have something from it - especially for grandpa Wolf. He's gonna love it!

Happy 4 weeks baby!

I am a winner!

So a few weeks ago - the week I had my baby actually - I entered Natalie's blog giveaway. And for once, I actually won! And last week, I got a fun little package in the mail. I got the one pictured at the bottom. It's called a "Mother Hen Apron" and it has little pockets to carry around your phone and paper&pencil - or whatever you want to have on hand while you've got a new baby. Isn't it so cute? And creative?

This little note was included. Thanks Natalie for the cute prize! I {heart} your blog!

Rachel loves Cha-Chi

Rachel is starting to say EVERYTHING. I love this age because it's so funny to hear little kids talking and expressing themselves. And the best part - guess what she calls Charlie? She calls him "chachi." And it is so cute that we're all calling him that.

First bottle

Hannah was completed fascinated on Saturday when she discovered that I could pump and that someone else (besides me) could feed the baby. She was so excited for Eric to wake up so she could give him his first bottle. I could get used to this....

It must be hard to be third...

I'll admit it - my 3 older kids have been a little bit neglected lately. When my sister and in-laws were here to help, it wasn't so bad, but in the week since all our company left, it's been worse. I just didn't realize how bad until last night.

I was starting dinner and Rachel came in and asked for an apple. I grabbed one from the fridge and handed it to her without even washing it - mostly thinking that she wouldn't really eat it anyway. About 10 minutes later, after I'd gone upstairs to change the baby, this is what I found on the kitchen table. Not only did she eat it, she even ate part of the core!

When Hannah was two, if she had asked for an apple, I would've peeled it and cut it into easy-to-eat slices. But not Rachel. If she wants an apple, she gets one that isn't peeled or cut. It isn't even washed. And she'll eat it, core and all, because that's what happens when you're the third child. Poor thing!

A baby story

Just in case you're interested, this is the story about how Eric was born. I'm writing it here so I'll be able to remember the details that I'm already starting to forget (even though only 2 weeks have gone by).

I was originally scheduled to be induced on Wed, the 21st of January. I got up at 5 am so I could shower and shave my legs (and only someone who's been 9 months pregnant can fully appreciate what that really means) and I called the hospital at 6. They told me that L&D was full but to call back at 9. Which I did, only to be told again that there were no beds available and that I should call back at 11. I was starting to feel pretty desperate at that point, but it got worse at 11 when I called again and they told me that my induction had been "bumped" to the next day. Luckily, my sister was nice and sent me out to lunch with a few friends which totally cheered me up (at least as much as I could be cheered up). I honestly kept wondering how I was going to make it through another night but somehow I did.

So on Thursday morning, I started the whole process again only to be told the same thing: L&D was full again and I would most likely have to wait until Friday. Ugh! So I called my Dr.'s office when it opened at 8 and asked if she could get me in since I hadn't seen her for 9 days and I wanted her to check me and make sure the baby was still doing okay. I went in at 9 and she told me that she would be happy to induce me the next day (providing the hospital had room for me). She said I was 4 cm and about 70% effaced and said she would "strip the membranes" to see if that would get things going. She also did that at my previous appointment and I'd had contractions off and on all day but that was it. Anyway, when we left her office, CJ and I drove over to his work where they have an indoor walking path and we started walking. We walked as fast as I could for about a mile and a half and I had contractions the whole time. We started timing them and they were every 6-8 minutes, but I was sure that I soon as I stopped walking, the contractions would stop too. So we sat and took a little break, but I kept having contractions! So we called the Dr. back and she told us to go straight to the hospital.

When I got there, I figured my contractions would stop and they would send me home, but they actually admitted me and took me to a room! And my contractions never stopped. I was actually in labor! Finally! I got to the hospital at noon and by 3:00 I was ready for an epidural. Nothing too miserable, but I was pretty uncomfortable and I had 3 hard contractions back-to-back and just figured I was done suffering. So the anesthesiologist came in and did the epidural and then they broke my water and started a little pitocin. (I think the Dr. was trying to hurry things along a little bit because she had a previous appointment at 7). Anyway, about 4, the nurse checked me and told me I was fully dilated and to let her know if I felt any pressure. A few minutes later, I did feel a lot of pressure so she called my OB and told her to come quick! A few minutes later, the nurse checked again and told me the baby was on his way (which I knew - I could feel it) and the Dr. came running in and put on her gloves and caught little Eric. I never even pushed. I guess that happens after 3 babies? Who knows? Anyway, it was a super-easy delivery once it finally started. He was born at 4:24pm - just a few hours after we had arrived at the hospital.

I am so glad that he's finally here. And I'm really glad my sister was able to help out for a few days. And then CJ's parents came and helped for a week too. It was great to have them to play with the other kids and help with laundry, shopping, cooking etc. so I could focus on Eric. Thanks for all your help guys!

Here's a picture of grandma Millie with Eric taken just a few days ago:


And his umbilical cord fell off on Sunday when he was 10 days old so here are some pictures of his first bath: