dr. appointment

We went to the dr. today. Abbie is 3 weeks old tomorrow and she's already gained 1lb 3 oz! Katherine is only in the 10th percentile for height and weight. The boys as babies were always 100+ percentile. Abbie is sleeping tons still and is doing great.

We are getting our yard done starting on Friday and I am SO extremely excited!!

This is hard!

The last few days have been pretty tough! Yesterday Nathan was hanging on the towel rack and it broke off and put a hole in the wall. Then I looked out the window and the boys were playing in the mud and were putting mud on the neighbor's driveway. Then they came inside to take a shower and got mud all over the house. Then Alex accidentally knocked down the shower curtain. We went to the plant shop and Katherine ran out into the street before I found her. Both girls had poop explosions. Katherine is still having meltdowns most of the day. This morning she fell off the bed and hit the bed frame and her head was bleeding-thank goodness no stitches, though. Yesterday Katherine kept getting out the door because the boys were outside and I couldn't grab her because I was nursing, so Alex was chasing after her. All my dishes are dirty. I went to go get something for dinner yesterday and my van battery was dead. Yesterday Nathan was digging in my flowerbed and dug up one of my flowers. Endless laundry.

This is hard!!! Thank goodness Todd has been helping me so much!!!

Things that kept me sane: My kids are cute, my husband is spectacular, and I spent $100 on plants. Oh...and not being pregnant anymore- I'd much rather take this than pregnancy any day!

Baby Abbie is born

Until we get the pack and play, Abbie is sleeping in the doll crib, just like Katherine did when she was first born:) :

My boys:

The boys with the baby:

Katherine with her sister. When she wants to hold the baby she says, "hold! hold!":

When I got home, Katherine "helped" me make some brownies. After we got the brownies in the oven, I was doing the dishes and turned around and found that she was licking the bowl and had put my sunglasses on. Silly girl:

Alex was really sad when it was time to go home the second night, so he stayed the night with me in the hospital that night. We had some good Alex Mommy time and watched tv and ordered snacks. In the morning we had breakfast in bed together. Then Todd came to pick us up and take us home! We brought Katherine's old car seat, but couldn't get the straps to the lower setting, so Todd had to run to the store and buy a new car seat before we could leave.

When Alex stayed with me, I asked him to hold the baby while I went to the bathroom. I told him to make sure not to drop her. He said, "Will you turn off the tv so I won't be tempted to watch it?" He's such a good big brother:

Nathan was really bored at the hospital and was anxious to get home to play MX Unleashed:

When the kids came to meet Abbie for the first time, we turned around to ind Katherine with Abbie's paci:

My family is complete!

The proud Daddy with his littlest girl:

Right after delivery her brow was scrunched up:

Abbie's feet:

Abbie at the park on Mother's Day. Precious girl!

Out of all my pregnancies, this one was the hardest! We also found out that the baby's cord was wrapped around her neck. I talked to the dr. about having the baby at 38 weeks instead of 39. 38 weeks was Wed. May 5, and Todd was having a crazy week at work so he asked if we could do it on Friday instead. On Thurs. morning we went to the dr. to do the amnio test to make sure the baby's lungs were mature to have the baby the next day. The amnio showed that there was a bit of meconium in the amniotic fluid so dr. asked if I wanted to have the baby right then. Of course!! So we went home, I grabbed my stuff, freaked out about finding a babysitter, and drove myself to the hospital leaving Todd with the kids at home. Luckily a heavenly angel named Jessica and her husband volunteered to watch the kids, and they ended up spending the night at their house. I didn't think Katherine would go to sleep there, but she did! I arrived at Timpanogos hospital in Orem at 2pm, and they started the IV and antibiotics. They started the pitocin at 4:20 but nothing really happened until Dr. Young broke my water at 7pm. I got my epidural (a very long and painful process this time) at 9pm and I was at 5cm. 45 min. later the baby was on her way! The nurse called the dr. (I had a fantastic nurse by the way, named Monica) and it took him FORTY minutes to get there! I was getting quite anxious. When the dr. got there I pushed the baby out in 1 contraction, and only 2 pushes. She was born at 10:44pm on Thurs. May 6, 7lbs and 18.5 inches. Besides the epidural, that was the easiest and fastest labor and delivery of all! She cried little squeaky baby cries (so cute!) and was perfectly healthy! I was so happy to have my little baby happy and healthy, no c-section and not pregnant anymore!!!!

Today is Sun. and she is 2 1/2 days old. It's Mother's day today and I got the best present ever: a complete family! She sleeps and sleeps and sleeps. I have to wake her up to eat. She is a beautiful baby and I am so happy she is here! I am glad to be back to my old self again: not hormonal, not uncomfortable, and have my energy back, etc. etc. etc. I have been doing a ton of stuff since I got home, just because I have my energy back now and my lungs and heart are not squished up anymore! The kids have been so cute with her. Katherine did not like me setting Abbie in her crib, though. We're going to get a pack-and-play for Abbie so she can sleep in it upstairs at night and I can put it downstairs during the day. Katherine loves to hold her and look at her and rock her in her carseat.

pics of kids in daffodils

My sister took pictures of the kids at daffodil fields in AR. She is coming out to Utah in June if you want her to take pictures for you! www.kerryguicephotography.com
I LOVE LOVE LOVE these pictures!

food diary day 5

nutri grain waffles with Todd's freezer jam

wheat bread with peanut butter

low fat cottage cheese and peaches

popcorn with no butter at the movie

grapes

hamburger patty made with 93% lean meat and spices and brown rice mixed in (makes the expensive meat go farther, it's healthier, and you can't even taste it)
strawberries and banana slices with truvia (Yummy!)
peas and corn with salt, pepper and 0 cal butter spray

pics in AR

Here are just some of the many pictures my sister took of the kids in Arkansas:

We tried to take pictures with all of the grandkids in their matching outfits. I bet you couldn't guess how that turned out:) :

Papa with all of his grandkids:

This is a classic Nathan picture-- shoes on the wrong feet, shoes untied, engrossed in a video game:

This is also a classic Nathan picture:) :

Again, classic picture of my boys. Swords and guns are their favorite toys:

Katherine's cute pigtails: