One Month Old!

My sweet little Brynne is one month old today. I cannot believe how fast that month went by! I'm not gonna lie -- things have definitely been more challenging throwing a third child into the mix, but I am so grateful that she's joined our family. I cannot get enough of holding her and cuddling with her. Alli and Holly love to hold her, too -- especially Alli. I'm getting a little choked up right now, thinking of my beautiful kids. And just now, Alli said "what does this say?" I looked over and she had written "mom" on a paper, for the first time without asking me how to spell it. I love my kids, and I'm so happy to have little Brynne with us now. I know that the next 11 months are going to fly by as quickly as the last month has and all of a sudden I'll have a one year old (well, she'll be a fake one year old, since she won't actually have a birthday next year . . . darn leap year!) Kids are great. Enjoy this picture! This was just taken -- she had to have an official one month photo shoot!

EASTER

Alex told me that I've taken too long to get these Easter pictures up, so here's a sampling of our day!

I Hate Boogers.

Brynne woke up last night at her usual time. I fed her, changed her, and put her back down. She went back to sleep fine, but both Alex and I could tell that she was having a hard time breathing through her nose. I knew she had to get cleaned up, but I knew it would wake her up. She pretty much couldn't sleep the rest of the night after I suctioned out her nose. Thank goodness for a sweet husband who can work from home when he needs to. He got up with the older girls and let me sleep until 10. So nice.

I Did It!

I just got back from Costco with all three kids! Thank goodness they have great big baskets with two seats in the front, and Brynne slept the whole time.

Here is a funny conversation I had with Allison at the store:

ALLI: Can we buy some of those tv's?
ME: No
ALLI: Why not? Are they not buying tv's?
ME: They are, but we don't need another tv.
ALLI: Can we have a tv in our room?
ME: No way!
ALLI: Because we don't have a dresser in our room to put one on?
ME: No, because you don't need to have a tv in your room.
ALLI: Can I ask Daddy?
ME: Sure, but he is going to tell you the same thing.

She called Alex, he said no, and she was bummed. But we got a good laugh out of it!

Easter Sunday 10

1. It's a gorgeous day outside! Thank goodness the snow is all melted and the sky is blue! I love it.
2. We barbequed last night! (By WE, I mean ALEX.) I love barbeque season. One, because it means it's not snowing anymore, and two, because it means that Alex is taking care of dinner about twice a week. Love it, love it, love it!
3. We took the girls (all three of them!) to see Horton Hears a Who yesterday, and Alex was instantly grateful that we don't have 96 daughters like the mayor has. It was a really cute movie, and I can officially say that I've nursed in public (okay, a really dark public where I'm not sitting by a stranger, but still . . .)
4. Holly went potty in the toilet this morning! We're not potty training her right now, but sometimes she asks to sit on the toilet, so I let her. She was in the bath this morning and she said she was pooping, so I put her on the toilet. She didn't poop, but she peed. I'm proud of her, and she was really excited. It's kind of bad timing for her to get excited about it, because helping her go to the bathroom when I'm nursing a baby 95% of the day (okay, it just feels like it) would be really tricky. So we still won't really start it, but I'll let her sit on there whenever she wants.
5. The girls have their Easter dresses and new white sweaters on today. They look adorable. Brynne is wearing a dress for the first time today. So, so cute. EDITED: So I just took a break for our home teachers to come over. While they were here, Holly got chocolate on her sweater. Hopefully it can be fixed before church!
6. I took all three kids out by myself for the first time. Okay, it was just to go visit Alex at work for 20 minutes, but I still got them all ready and in the car by myself. That's exciting to me.
7. Alli and I got a haircut yesterday. I decided to chop mine off to make things less annoying with post-partum shedding. Alli just got a few inches cut off and she looks so cute. She was so proud of herself.
8. Brynne has been a really good sleeper. She's only been waking up once a night. Good baby!
9. We're having a little Easter Egg hunt tonight after church. My brother, sister, and brother-in-law are coming over for dinner and to watch the girls find eggs. I'm looking forward to it.
10. Easter candy . . . need I say more?

I'll post Easter pictures soon!

My Sunday 10 replacement

Well, I'm choosing sleep over doing my Sunday 10, but can anyone blame me? We had a great day today. I took Brynne to Sacrament Meeting for the first time, but we went home right after. Alex's mom, dad, and sister and her family came over for dinner and we had a fun, chaotic time eating dinner and letting the kids play. Also exciting today: I realized how much easier it is to shave your legs when you're not hugely pregnant. It took me a couple weeks to get around to it, but it is sooo nice to have smooth legs again.

My Girls

Just wanted to share a few pictures of my girls!

At dinner for my brother's birthday yesterday. Holly made him sing "ABC's" at least 5 times in a row, and she was very proud of herself for doing so.

Finding something fun to do with the Mr. Potato Head stickers my mom gave them.

I did a little photo shoot with them yesterday, and here are some of my favorites:

Princess on Ice

My Aunt Carla gave us tickets to the Disney Princess on Ice last night. I had to stay home with Brynne, but Alex took the girls, and they had a blast. They were so hyper when they got home, and couldn't stop talking about the princesses, princes, the dragon, the songs, and the ice cream that they got to have on the drive home. I'm sad I couldn't go with them, but I'm so glad Alex got to take them! Here's a few pictures from the night:

Oh, What a Start to the Day!

First off, Brynne has decideed that her 4-day streak of only waking up once at night was over, and the last two nights she's been very restless and won't sleep unless she's touching me. That makes things pretty rough for me, because I'm battling between wanting sleep and wanting to train her not to have to sleep with me. Sleep seems to be winning...

So the girls woke me up this morning and I was still exhausted. Alex got home from working out shortly after that, and then we started getting ready for the day. A couple minutes later, Alli called me from the bathroom, "mom! Come see how much water there is!" Anyone want to guess where all that water was located? That's right, in the toilet. It was about an inch away from the top -- water, pee, and poop. A lovely sight. Alex ran in to see what was going on and started plunging away. To make a long story short, we ended up with a very unsanitary mess all over the bathroom floor. Every extra towel in our house has been used and every item on that bathroom floor has received a scrubdown. Ick, ick, ick.

Why I Love My Husband

I fell asleep on the couch last night after dinner, and when I woke up, Alex had gotten the girls ready for bed, played "Clue" with them (sort of, they can't really play it!), cleaned up their room, and put them to bed. Later, he said he was going upstairs to read and I told him I'd be up in a few minutes. When I went upstairs, he had sorted and started folding 2 very large loads of laundry. I think he saved me a good couple hours today. He's such a thoughtful guy!

My Sunday 10

It's obviously been an exciting and busy week, but here are some of the highlights:

1. Having my mom here all week was so great. She mostly took care of Allison and Holly, but she definitely changed her share of newborn poopy diapers, too. She left yesterday morning, and so far we've survived without her, but we'll see how I do when Alex has to go back to work and I have to go it alone with 3 kids!

2. Holly had me in tears at dinner earlier this week making a new face. Words can't explain -- enjoy this picture! She always cracks me up!

3. I left the house yesterday for the first time since being at the hospital. We all took my mom to the airport, and then stopped at Alex's sister's house in Salt Lake on the way back. It felt good to see the outside world, although I was exhausted when we got back.

4. For the last 2 nights, Brynne has slept in her cradle and only woken up once in the middle of the night. I can definitely handle that sort of sleep routine.

5. Brynne had her first real bath this morning! She hated every second of it, so of course we took pictures. She was very glad to be wrapped up in a towel and back in my arms.

6. We enjoyed a fun pre-St. Patricks Day party at the Gardner's last night. It was nice to get out of the house and see friends . . . and not have to worry about dinner for one more night.

7. I found my favorite deodorant at drugstore.com. I've only been able to find it at Walgreens, but they haven't had it the last couple times I checked. Thank goodness for the internet -- I definitely stocked up!

8. Alex just left with the girls to go to church. I'm really hoping to get at least an hour of scrapbooking in before they get back. I have tons to catch up on! The girls were very excited to get to wear their new dresses to church today. I think they look adorable. This picture is from right after their baths, so excuse the crazy hair!

9. Alex is taking Holly and Alli to the Disney Princesses on Ice (thanks to my favorite Aunt Carla for the tickets!) on Wednesday. I'm so sad I can't go, but Brynne's a little too young to be out around so many people and I'm just not okay with leaving her with anyone yet. I'm making Alex take lots of pictures, because I know the girls are going to be so, so excited.

10. As tired as I am, I've had a really easy, smooth recovery so far. I'm feeling great and ready to jump back in to normal life -- minus the shopping part, because I'm just not ready to take 3 kids to a store by myself!

One Week Old

My sweet baby is one week old today. She had a breakthrough this morning, and just lay happily on my bed the whole time I was showering and getting dressed. She usually doesn't last too long when she's not being held. But she's been very happy this morning, and she hasn't been too bad at night. Granted, I let her sleep in her carseat every night because that's the only way she will sleep, but at least she's not being held! I'm so amazed by how adorable and tiny she is. My friend and neighbor came over yesterday and offered to do a little photo shoot of her. It was so cute just watching her laying there in her diaper. Ahhh, she's so cute.

To Epidural or Not To Epidural . . .

Does that picture scare anyone?

I've had a lot of people ask if I preferred having an epidural or not, since I've now done it both ways. Here's my quick rundown to answer your questions:

I had an epidural with both Alli and Holly, and my experiences with them were what made me consider going natural this time. Alli's epidural was either really strong or put in a weird location or something, because I couldn't feel my body from my waist down. The nurses would tell me to roll to my side, and I had to make them roll me because I couldn't feel anything to do it myself. Because it was my first, I just assumed that's how it was supposed to be. When I had Holly, I expected the same thing, but her epidural was so much better. I was numb to my contractions, but I could feel my legs and I could move when I needed to. It was a perfect epidural. When I started thinking about labor this time, I decided I would try to go without one, because I was so scared of having a repeat of Alli's epidural, which I dreaded.

Because I was already at an 8 when I got to the hospital, and with how long it took to get all checked in, I probably would have had about 20 minutes to get an epidural and let it kick in before I had Brynne. So it's a really good thing I wasn't planning on getting one, because there just wouldn't have been time.

Here's the bottom line: It was both awful and amazing not having an epidural! It was one of the most difficult things I've ever done in my life. When it was all over, all I could say was "That was so hard! That was so hard!" Even though everything went so fast, it was so intense and painful. It was hard to have an extremely painful contraction and feel like I couldn't function until it was over. And then comes the pushing -- always my most dreaded part of labor. The pressure was so, so intense that the pushing actually felt good; It almost made the pain go away, even though that was in exchange for extreme pressure. Alex had his hand on my shoulder the whole time I was pushing, and there were several times where I nearly bit his hand just trying to release some of the tension. He could have been out a finger or two, but luckily I restrained myself! As difficult as that was, as soon as she was out I was on a huge adrenaline rush, and I felt so amazing (though exhausted). It was very empowering to be able to go through labor and know exactly how and when to push to be able to get Brynne out. And it was really nice to be able to get out the bed as soon as I was cleaned up and walk around. I told Alex I would never go without an epidural again, but now that I'm a week removed from it I think I could do it again.

I did not plan on this being so long!

Baby, baby!

Life with a new baby is always interesting. I've learned that Brynne hates sleeping flat on her back. The first night home I ended up sleeping with her on the recliner. Last night she put up a fight for the first 4 hours of nighttime, so we put her in her carseat and she slept for the next 4 hours. I really don't want to get into a habit of letting her sleep in her carseat at night, but I'm not so rational at 3:00 in the morning. She has been a sweet baby so far. I hate putting her down at all during the day because she just snuggles with me. It's been nice to have my mom here this week, and I'm taking advantage of her being here and holding Brynne all day long while she takes care of the other girls.

I hate to sound like a total sap, but I am so grateful for my family. We were having Family Home Evening last night, and Alex was playing with Alli and Holly while I was holding Brynne. I was so overwhelmed with gratitude for all the blessings I have: a very supportive, wonderful, helpful and caring husband who goes out of his way to make sure I'm taken care of, and 3 beautiful children who I love more than I can say. They make my life so amazing, and I'm so thankful for all of them.

Okay, sap over. Here are some pictures from the last few days:

Brynne hanging out in her carseat with her frog blanket she got at the hospital for being a Leap Year baby.

Brynne with my Grandma, who my kids call Mambo.

Who couldn't love this face? This girl makes me laugh.

It took us 3 days, but this is our first family picture. Maybe I'll have makeup on for the next one!

Allison loves holding Brynne. This picture makes me smile.

Okay, so Brynne wasn't enjoying this one so much. By the way, aren't these purple princess pajamas so cute? My mom brought these for the older girls.

I was trying to catch her with her eyes open, but I think the flash startled her.

This was the activity part of FHE. Looks fun, huh?

Cute daddy.

BRYNNE CAMILLA

She's here! She was born on Friday, February 29th at 8:57 a.m. I woke up early that morning with strong, but irregular contractions. Finally around 5:30, I got tired of waking up and trying to go back to sleep so I went downstairs and they started picking up speed. Alex came down at 6 to go play basketball and I assured him he had plenty of time and that I would see him in an hour. At 6:30 I decided he needed to come home. Luckily, he had already called his mom so she was getting ready to come over. We got to the hospital around 8:05, got checked in and changed and the nurse started asking me all the normal questions. Finally she decided to check me. I had been at a 4 and 80% the morning before at my appointment. She was checking me for a really long time . . . too long . . . and finally said with a puzzled look "I think you're complete, or maybe at a 9." I was shocked to be so far along already, especially with my water still in tact. The doctor came in and checked me and decided I was only at an 8. They wheeled me into the delivery room and my doctor came in and broke my water. Within 5 minutes I was feeling intense pressure so they checked me and I was ready to go. About 5 minutes and 4 pushes later she was out! I'm really glad I had gone in with the mindset of not getting an epidural, because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have had time to get one, anyway. We were at the hospital for about 50 minutes before she was out. I'm still in shock over how quick it went.

She weighed 8 lbs, 6 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches. She's beautiful! She reminded us both of Holly when she was born, but not quite as much now that she's a few days in. She nurses like a champ (meaning she never wants to stop!) I haven't had the problem of her falling asleep while nursing yet . . . I'm sure that will come, but so far she just keeps on going.

We had a good few days at the hospital, and we just came home about an hour ago. I'm so glad to be home and back in normal clothes. Alli and Holly love her and each brought down all of their blankets and dolls and covered Brynne in them. I'm definitely going to have to keep a close eye on all these girls.

Thanks to everyone for your well-wishes! We're doing really well and we're so happy. Ask me again in a few days when I haven't been spoiled by a hospital nursery at night! I feel very lucky to have 3 beautiful and healthy daughters, and a wonderful and helpful husband. He was amazing with Alli and Holly while I was in the hospital, though I know he's been excited for me to come home and go back to my mom duties. He's been a trooper!