Beautiful Baby

Here's a sweet picture to make you smile today.

Sweet Blessing

Last week my Mom and Dad came down from Utah to meet their newest granddaughter and help out for a few days. We love having them come visit us! Since we live so far away from them we don't get to have them here very often so it's always such a treat for Grandpa and Grandma to come to Texas.

Here are Kate and Grandma playing a duet.

With all the TX grandkids

We decided to go ahead and bless Brooke while they were here. They were able to bring "the dress" for her to be blessed in, which is the family blessing dress. My aunt handmade it for her first daughter and most, if not all of the daughters, granddaughters, and now great-granddaughters on my dad's side of the family have been blessed in this gorgeous dress. I just love it and am so glad I have been albe to have my girls all blessed in the same dress I was. I think it is so special.

Ben did a great job with Brooke's blessing and Brooke was the perfect little angel and didn't make a peep. She looked so sweet and precious on her special day. What a blessing these new babies are in our lives. What is better than a new spirit from Heavenly Father here on this earth to bless us with more joy and happiness?

Booke~now 3 weeks old!

I am remembering vividly tonight Brooke's birth. It was exactly 3 weeks ago tonight that we headed for the hospital hoping that she would arrive soon and safely and that we would make it to the hospital! :) We did, thank goodness.

I had been having contractions every 10 minutes on and off all day Saturday (and Friday, but they went away during the night). The weren't getting any closer together, but by evening they had gotten more uncomfortable. I wasn't having as much back labor as I did with the other girls so it was nice to be able to time the contractions. We started putting the kids to bed and I was figuring out in my head who I would call at 2 am so we could go to the hospital. However, at 8:15 pm, when I was putting Carli to bed I had a really painful contraction and then 5 minutes later I had another one. Got her down and went and sat in one of the chairs in the game room. They kept coming at 5 minutes apart. About 9 pm they were still coming on strong every 5 minutes so we decided we better get going to the hospital since it was a bit of a drive. We called one of my good friends here and she was going to come right over so we could head out asap. We called another friend to come take over for her and stay the night with the kids. They were all asleep so that was nice and I was glad we weren't having to call someone in the middle of the night (which we had done with 2 of the other girls). I hate having to impose on people, especially when they are asleep. :)

When we got to the hospital at 10 pm they checked me and I was 3-4 and about 70 % effaced. Not much progress since my appointment the Monday before, but I hadn't been effaced at all so that was something, anyway. They hooked me all up while they watched everything and filled out paperwork, asked a billion questions, etc. A half hour later they said they were admitting me (who would send home a mom having her 5th child and would probably go quickly--smart move on their part) and took us to a real room. The dr. on call (not my dr--didn't see him at all during the whole hospital stay) came in and checked me. I had been there for 45 minutes by now and I was up to almost 5 cm. They pretty much left us alone in the room and said to call if anything changes or I start feeling pressure. The contractions continued to get stronger and closer together.

About and hour later, around 11:40 pm, I was feeling REALLY uncomfortable and hurting and started feeling quite a bit of pressure. Ben called the nurse in and she called the dr. in. I was 9 cm with just a little lip left, but baby was not coming down very well. My water still hadn't broken so he went ahead and broke it, but that lip still stuck there. This baby's head was a bit bigger than the other kiddos (except Brandon) so I had to push a bit more to get her into the world than I did with the other girls. We were hoping she would hold on until after midnight so we could have a February birthday in our family (silly, I know) and sure enough, she did. I started really pushing at 12:15 and she was born at 12:29 am. So, we made it to the hospital in time with 2 1/2 hours to spare (if you know my history you'll know why this is significant--if not, we barely made it in time for Kate and Megan and were glad they weren't born in the car). Brooke was perfect with apgars of 9 and 9 and was just so beautiful! We are excited to have another redhead in the family as well (thankfully, so far she doesn't seen to have the temperment of a typical redhead).

Brooke was my 4th med-free natural birth and let me tell you, I am not planning on doing it again. I know it's still fresh in my mind, but seriously, I do not want to go through that again. Why not get an epidural, you ask? I had one with Brandon and it just caused all kinds of problems with me so I did not want to take the chance of having all those complications again. The recovery has been a little slower with Brooke than with the other girls, but still not too bad. I am doing well and Brooke is just fabulous. We are all so in love with this little baby girl!

Here is what I have loved and enjoyed about Brooke so far:

*I love how when I pick her up her little body does the little s-t-r-e-t-c-h and scrunch. So cute!

*I love the way she smells. So yummy--the smell of heaven, I'm sure.

*I love her trying to focus on my face and how her eyes cross when she tries really hard.

*I love her fuzzy red hair.

*I love her "smiles." Seriously, she really does smile. :)

*I love her pointy little ears.

*I love her tiny fingers and toes.

*I love her adorable little nose.

*I love when she falls asleep on my shoulder or chest. She is so snuggly and sweet.

*I love to just sit and hold her and enjoy her being so tiny.

Get ready!

I just posted a TON of pictures so scroll down until you have seen them all! :)

1 week old!

One week old?! How did that week go by so quickly? It's going to fast already. Brooke, please slow down and let me keep you tiny a little longer. You are such a sweet, precious, wonderful baby. I can't imagine not having you in our family. Everyone adores you and you fit so perfectly into our home. How special you are! We love you so much!

Nana had to go home today so we tried to get some pictures before she left. Yes, there is one missing in this photo. Kate was having an emotional "moment" (that lasted about 15 minutes, at least) and refused to sit and be in the picture. We are sorry, Nana! We had Nana take a picture for us before she left. Isn't it sweet?!

At home

We have so enjoyed having Brooke home. She is so precious! She sleeps a lot and the kids love to have turns holding her.Ben's mom came to help out for a few days (and boy, she was a HUGE help!).Here's Brooke after her first bath at home. She's just so cute!

Here's our first attempt at a photo shoot. It was semi-successful, I would say. Here she is sticking out her tongue for me. :)"Mom, aren't you done yet?"
"Really, is this supposed to be fun?"

"It's a little chilly down here, Mom."

(Can't think of something for this one...)
"Mom, I love you"

Coming Home

Monday evening the whole family came to take us home. Look how tiny Brooke looks in her car seat!

I think she was happy to be going home. See the little smile?

At the hospital

Sweet Brooke

Big sister Megan
Big sister Kate
Big sister CarliProud big brother BrandonHearing test

All wrapped up. What a sweet sweet baby she is. We love her dearly!

Brooke is here!

We are happy to announce Brooke made her entrance into the world early this morning at 12:29 am, February 1, 2009. She is beautiful and healthy and doing great.

I'll post her birth story later with more pictures. The sisters and brother are coming this afternoon to visit their new little sister. Can't wait to see them all together!