Cooper 12/31/14

Happy Day to me! Coopers birth pictures were found and I couldn't be happier. I truly love looking back on his birth. It was such a special day.
Toward the end of my pregnancy I was certain he would be born early. I also thought because he was number 4 that he would just come quick. Ha I don't know why I do that to myself. So I scheduled an induction day on the 28th of December. I really didn't want to wait until after the new year and or pay double for my hospital bill. The night of the 28th I got cold feet and thought maybe I should listen to our parents and just wait. So instead of getting induced I chose to see my midwife and see if I had progressed at all. Also during that week, I got this rash called puppps rash and I explained to my midwife about how painfully itchy it was on my belly. She told me it would go away after I delivered Cooper. I was pretty bummed that I waited and missed my induction time on the 28th so out of desperation I asked when I could be induced again. She came back and told me the 31st.
I went back and forth on this date... Should his birthday be new years eve? ha. So without too much thinking I went with it. At 2 am on December 31st Nate and I checked into the hospital. It was 20 degrees and super windy outside. I will never forget how cold it was.
By 3 am I was all hooked up and ready to have a baby. Then about 5 am I was getting good contractions and close to 7 or 8 am I got the epidural. After the epidural me and the babies heart rate went down and I had to stop the pitocin and wait until the babies heart rate was normal. It was so odd since I never had experienced anything like that. So by 9 am they hooked the pitocin on and got things moving. It really felt like forever to get my body dilated again. I was getting impatient because the others moved along so much quicker. Closer to 12pm I was feeling strong contractions and when my body was fully dialed and I was ready to push. When I did start pushing I felt like Coop would never come. At 1:49 Cooper Lee Nelson came into this world weighing 8lbs. 2oz. and 21inches long. I will never forget when my midwife layed Cooper on my Chest and I held onto his little hands and he just clenched my finger so tight. I felt such an immediate connection with this little babe. I am definitely feeling complete with our family and glad I don't have to go through pregnancy anymore. But can't help but miss this beautiful part of my life of having babies.
 I truly love that I have such great memories of our children's birth.
Here are a few pics that Nate took of Cooper minutes after being born and a few I took the next morning in the hospital.

well HELLO!

Tonight I decided since I can't sleep I'll blog. I use to be so good at it and now I can't believe that its been so long. Part of me wants to be so upset at the Janette for the past 4-5 months. Why oh why didn't you just blog when you were going to. I didn't because its not necessarily the "cool thing to do " now but because 4 kids has really rocked my boat. Like rocking it to the fact of not doing any thing I use to, feeling overwhelmed constantly and the that I wish my house would just stay clean for 10min. Lets face it life is busy. 

But about a month ago I lost a years worth of pictures! yes a YEARS WORTH! so now this blog is serving as therapy for my lack of.... Time, computer support and external hard drive updating. 

The crazy thing is.... I didn't post enough because I didn't have time to perfect my photos. Nate likes to call it "Doctor them up" I like to call it editing. So these are all SOOC (straight out of the camera) and I don't care. These are memories I don't want to forget. If I don't post them I might lose them.

Coop is 4 months old 

Lila is 5 1/2

Boston is 8

 and Mia is 2 1/2 and was asleep on the couch.

 This day was Sunday, we got home from church and just wanted to lounge around. Nate was working and I decided to enjoy our beautiful children more. I realized I hadn't taken my camera out for awhile.

Sometimes, I just want time to go fast because life seems so hard. Other days, I laugh at how amazing my life is and that my children might be at a hard stage but a unforgettable small stage. I really don't want them to grow up I just want to be selfish with more "me" time.
Oh how I LOVE my life.
Cooper is changing everyday. He is spot on and reminds me of all the others as babies. How do I get so lucky with easy going happy babies?. It makes me sad when the baby stage disappears. Its almost like this magical stage. He is sleeping through the night, smiling constantly, trying to roll, and getting better at sitting up. We ALL adore him so much. He's just sooooo cute!
Mia is becoming pretty hard, like any 2 1/2 year old she tests me and is finding her own voice in this family. She already makes Nate and I laugh with how smart she is. She knows what she wants and can be feisty but also has the sweetest loving heart. I can tell she needs my 100% attention and longs for our old one on one time. She knows her colors and I can say that wasn't from me at all. She loves copying her sister and loves climbing the pantry for marshmallows. She's becoming a picky eater and wakes up at the crack of dawn (it drives even Bos and Li crazy). She is a total daddies girl and loves being with Nate.
Lila is becoming our little social butterfly. She loves friends and needs that constant interaction. She's not really shy and every year conquers her fears. She can go in front of a stage and can dance her heart out. She is also VERY sensitive and wears her heart on her sleeve. I don't see it as a weakness at all, she just needs to control what she puts out into the world. Her confidence attracts others and they Love to be around her. She is also ALL girl (and I really love that). From the moment we found out she was a girl I was ecstatic. I dressed her up in so many dresses, painted her nails as soon as 9 months and made her nursery as girly as possible. She already knows the routine from early on.
Boston is growing up so fast its truly hard for me to believe. I sit in shock at times that he's been alive for 8 years. Sometimes it frightens me that time can go so quickly. He is our first born which really means we didn't have a clue as to how to parent but he had our 100% attention from the beginning. He is smart and is always thinking and creating. He loves Math and can do math equations in his head (the ones that took me until wayyy later in life ha). If you ask him who his friends are he says everybody. He's not too aggressive (never was) and doesn't love sports. I'm hoping that will change. He loves building Lego's, forts, paper airplanes, etc. He isn't too competitive unless he's around Lila. Already the girls are flawking and that makes me uneasy a little. He has a little temper and feels like no one listens and or always is yelling at him. He can't stay mad very long and when I use the "don't smile tactic" he caves every time.
Just a few things I want to remember right now. So many more things but tonight is good for now.

Now for pics I took from Sunday May 24th

Cooper in the last 2 weeks..

Having a another baby around has been amazing. Cooper is so so sweet and we our ALL in love with him. Sadly just after he was born all the kids got sick with the flu. Now that everyone is better they can hold and kiss on him. I would have to say the fourth time around is so nice. I am a much confident mother and I feel like I know what he needs when he cries. Just juggling the others and him has been more of a challenge. I know it will take time. 

Cooper is such content baby and smiled the first week he was born. He is also already getting chubby. Since he was born hasnt lost any weight. He is a good eater and already eating 4 oz in a bottle. 

I attempted to take picture of him but I forget how hard it is when you are a sleep deprived mom and using a camera. 

We our so in love.

Our kids.

Sometimes I just want to remember them being fun crazy kids and not always having to pose for the camera. Sometimes they pose anyway and it shocks me. Oh I love these kids and enjoy being there mama.