Welcome Evelyn!

My due date was April 24th. We scheduled April 19th for my induction a few months before, mostly to make it easier to coordinate all of our fabulous help with the other kids. I'm so glad I had at least one experience of having a baby unplanned--with Violet-- but it's not so easy to manage that now! The hospital called the night before to confirm, and told us to call at 7:30 the next day to see if there was room. About 7:20am on Thursday April 19th, they called and asked how soon we could be there! Kissie was already at our house, so we gathered a few last things and got to the hospital about 8:00. 

Being strep b positive, it was a pretty quiet morning of checking in, getting situated, and getting the required 4 hours of iv antibiotics started. This was another good reason to plan an induction-- my babies come fast, and if not enough antibiotics get in ahead of time, they have to do more pokes on the baby to make sure she isn't sick. Kevin and I surfed the internet, read, and watched all that great morning television. 

                                       

We had a great nurse, Codi, who was actually our nurse when Luke was born too. She was great, just like last time! Dr. Hutchison came in to break my water about 12:30, Codi increased the pitocin drip, and the anesthesiologist came to give me my epidural about 1:15. The epidural took a little longer to fully take on my left side than with my other deliveries, but turned out fine. Kevin and I watched the contractions coming on the monitor, and it was lovely not to be feeling them at the same time. About 1:45 I started feeling a lot of pressure and called the nurse in to check, and I was fully dilated and ready to deliver. 

                          

Codi texted Dr. Burgett and he said he'd be there in 10 minutes. Luckily he was that fast! I loved watching it all happen in the mirror at the foot of the bed. At one point it even looked like Evelyn was trying to come out on her own-- she was progressing when I wasn't pushing! Dr. Burgett thought it was funny I was laughing a little while pushing. It's just such an amazing and happy and miraculous event, I couldn't help myself. After about 10 minutes of pushing-- more than with my other deliveries! -- Evelyn was born at 2:09pm. She was 7 pounds, 12 ounces and 20 inches long (the exact same measurements as Violet!).  

I held her right away and it took her just a minute to cry. It was so thrilling to hold the sweet baby who just minutes before had been inside of me! Kevin cut the umbilical cord. Then startlingly quickly Dr. Burgett did my stitches, the nursery nurses weighed and measured Evelyn, and everyone was out of the room and we got to cuddle with our new little one. And eat my lunch--I was hungry! Evelyn got her 'lunch' too, and nursed really well. 

  

 It was such an ideal delivery, smooth and quick! I was really happy with Riverton Hospital and how everything turned out. 

We stayed in the labor and delivery room for a little while longer, and then transferred to the mom and baby area. During delivery I had turned up the epidural drip so I could feel numb on both sides of my body, so it took longer to wear off than it had with my other babies. It was a little bit crazy when the nurses helped me up to get in a wheelchair and walk to the bathroom! But it wore off pretty quickly after that. 

Lucky for us Kissie, Cora, Violet, and Luke came to visit soon after we got to the new room. The kids were all so excited to hold Evelyn and meet their new baby sister, and show her the presents and flowers Kissie helped them pick out. Luke learned pretty quickly to say 'my turn!' and 'me first!'. They stayed for quite a while and it was so fun to take pictures and be all together as a family.  

 The kids were really excited to be there for Evelyn's first bath. Kevin did it in our room, and they all wanted to be close to not miss a second of it. 

  

 Pata came a bit later, after work, to meet little Evelyn too. 

 Kissie stayed the night at our house and got Cora off to school on Friday. Friday morning Kevin took a break from the hospital and watched Cora perform at the Nursery Rhyme Festival at school. While he was gone, the hospital photographer came and took some great pictures of Evelyn. Kissie and the kids came back for a visit after school, and then went to her house for the afternoon. Cora even got to go with Kissie to pick up her race number for the marathon on Saturday!  Pata brought the kids back to our house and stayed with them Friday night until we got home Saturday. The kids had a great time with both Kissie and Pata, and we are so grateful for their help! 

 You can tell which pictures we took on Thursday and which pictures we took on Friday... early Friday morning Cora's tooth finally came out. FINALLY!

 I had thought we might just stay one night in the hospital, but it was going to be a bit of a rush to check out that early, and it was actually nice to be there and relax. Evelyn spent some time in the nursery at night, which was helpful so I could get more sleep. I had forgotten how noisy babies are when they sleep! We watched a few movies and talked to parents and grandparents and just spent time focusing on little lovely Evelyn. 

 Evelyn has super cute chubby kissable cheeks and lots of hair too. She had a little bit of bruising on her face from the umbilical cord being wrapped around her neck, and a few 'stork bites' above her mouth and on the back of her neck. 

 On Saturday morning we finally decided on Loraine for her middle name, naming her after my grandmother. We finished the paperwork and check-ups and left the hospital about 11:00. Evelyn wasn't thrilled to be in her carseat, but luckily it's a short ride!

  Kissie and the kids had worked on some cute welcome home decorations they were excited to show us. They were excited to find that Evelyn brought them presents-- ball hoppers and Curious George Hide and Seek Zoo! And of course they were even more excited to hold Evelyn again, and see her take a bath at home.

Welcome to the family Evelyn! 

Cora at 5 years, 9 months

- It's been interesting to see the phrases Cora has picked up at school... lots of new ones! The most prominent is being 'boy-trapped'. Every time we sit down, Cora informs us who is trapped and how... if a boy is sitting between two girls, he is girl-trapped. If a girls is sitting between two boys, she is boy trapped. There is always something to say, because if someone is sitting between a boy and a girl, then they are 'Indian trapped'!

- Even though she knows I don't like it, she likes to answer my requests with "Yes, your highness".

- Every Fast and Testimony meeting in our ward we have loads of kids get up to speak. Cora has been very interested in what a testimony is and bearing hers. She's been practicing at Family Home Evening and our monthly family dinners with the local relatives. She gives a heartfelt testimony and it's neat to hear what's in her heart.

- Cora and I finally finished our big yellow book. We really weren't in any rush, until the end, when I really wanted to get it done before Evelyn was born. It was a neat thing to do together, and fun to see her reading so well. It's a great book, and I'd highly recommend it. Violet and I have started on it a bit, we'll do more over the summer.

- Cora started up summer soccer. She is trying harder than last fall and seems to be more involved in the games. I think after this though, she'll be ready to try a new sport. She really enjoyed trying out her new tennis racket with Kevin last week.

- Cora has continued to do extremely well at school. She has a great teacher, and comes home excited to tell me about what she learned and who she played with at recess. I've been able to go in and volunteer in her classroom about twice a month and it's fun to observe her in this new setting. In February the teachers did a little assessment and Cora is right on track, ready for first grade. One of the tasks was to write a complete sentence, and she wrote "I love my Dad". Cute! Twice a week her homework is writing 4-5 sentences in her journal notebook and drawing a picture to go along with it. She also loves to write her own stories too. It's just so neat to see her learn and express herself.

- Cora is about to lose her 4th tooth. It's just barely hanging in there. I'd love to pull it out, but she wants it to fall out on its own, and no amount of convincing (or bribing) is going to sway her. While Cora was protectively waiting for her tooth to fall out on its own, Pata folded up a small piece of white napkin into the shape of a tooth and reached around from behind and faked that he had pulled out her tooth and "showed it" to her. She was very shocked and surprised until she realized that her tooth was still there!

- Cora is in such a fun stage now where she rarely throws tantrums. She understands more about how things work and can understand why she won't get her way all the time. She is so helpful and kind and interested in learning more about everything. She's just really pleasant to be around, and a lot of fun too! It's a great stage... I hope it lasts a long time!

Violet at 4 years

- Violet loves to sing, she made up all kinds of songs to sing to the guinea pigs when we babysat them, and she sings lots of special songs to her babies.

- Violet has her favorite books that she literally has memorized. I was amazed to hear her read me, word for word, Pinkalicious in January. She loves silly books like Falling for Rapunzel, Pickle Things, and Whopper Cake.

- Violet likes her neck being rubbed or tickled. When I comb her hair by her neckline, she always tells me how good it feels.

- Violet likes to be fancy. She prefers dresses and leggings to pants, and has a tantrum if it has to be a pants day. She went through a 3 week streak of wearing a t-shirt, leggings, and a tutu, he idea of extra fancy. She has a favorite black bow that she loves to wear most days too.

- Violet has sensitive taste buds, and doesn't like spicy things. Even ketchup and soda get labelled as too spicy.

- Violet picks up funny phrases and he own twists on words. She asks for 'branch' dressing to dip her veggies in, if something doesn't go the way she wants it to, she'll say 'rats, spoiled again!' (I think this might be 'foiled again, picked up from a tv show?). We were puzzled for a while when she kept asking that 'no axe upon us' during her prayers... finally figured out it was a shortened version of asking that no harm or accident come upon us. But it's great to not have any axes upon us either!

- Violet acts very shy in big groups like Primary and preschool. But if you get her to start talking in a smaller setting, she'll tell you all kinds of things for a long, long time! She tells long stories and all about what is happening in her world.

- Just this morning, Violet found me and said "Mommy, I just washed behind my ears with my toothbrush". I told her that is kind of yucky and that toothbrushes are only for our teeth. She replied "Don't worry, I already washed it off". Kids come up with the funniest things!!

Luke at 2 years, 3 months

- Luke loves drinking from an open cup, although he's not super reliable at it yet. He just likes to be like his big sisters! If you let him borrow your water bottle, beware the floaties!

- Luke loves trains. He likes to spot them when we're walking around downtown, he likes to watch Dinosaur Train on television, he begs to wear his choo-choo shirts every day, and he spends a lot of time playing with his train table.

- Luke has a good eye for shapes, and he has been able to do his shape sorter and other matching tasks well for a while now. He notices what belongs where, and doesn't like things to be where they don't belong.

- Luke says his sisters' names Co-a and Vi-et, r's and l's are still pretty tricky for him. He surprises us with new words and phrases every day. He can pretty much always get his point across now, which is so helpful.

- Luke's primary defense against his sisters is hair pulling. Try as we might, he doesn't see the harm. They tell me that in nursery he doesn't do it, so I guess it's a special tool just for sisters, mostly when he's tired and frustrated.

- Luke's other favorite book and tv characters are 'melmo' and 'do-a' (Elmo and Dora).

- Luke gets excited when he hears the printer start up, he runs to watch the paper come out and then delivers the print-outs to me wherever I am in the house.

- If Luke toots or hears a toot, he'll announce it loudly to everyone, start giggling, and say excuse me -- for himself or whoever is the culprit.

- A few months ago Luke finally caught on to if/then statements. This is especially helpful at dinner time... if you eat 2 bites of broccoli, then you can have some dessert!

- The girls got some mini Christmas erasers in their stockings. Luke quickly commandeered them. They are just the right size for his little hands to carry around. He took them everywhere for a while, and if he couldn't find them, he'd wander around saying "Where's ho-ho?". We've since picked up some transportation and Easter themed erasers that get a lot of use too.

- Luke knows the names of many of the letters and most of the colors, but not necessarily which ones go with which. It is pretty cute to see him point to letters and pick a random one he knows to say with it.

- Luke knows that if he is mean, he has to say sorry. Usually he adds a kiss too. Sometimes this means a pretty quick succession of hits and kisses.

- Luke loves to show off his skills, whether it be spinning, balancing, or shaking his head. Each time before he performs, he prefaces his act with a "Mama, watch!" command. And he makes sure I watch! If I'm not watching, the command gets louder and louder until he gets the attention he wants. Lately this has also been reversed to "Watch, Mama" as he has become interested in watching me cook and doing laundry. He loves to sit on the dryer and help pour the soap in the washer. Luckily, this has made blankie washing much easier on him (and me).

- Luke loves his tennis shoes. We've tried to go shoe shopping for sandals several times, and he just bursts into tears everytime I try to put a new pair of shoes on. It doesn't matter if they are flipflops, crocs, or other sandals, he just won't have it and whines until his sneakers are back on. I'll guess he'll just have hot little feet this summer... and that the transition won't be terrible when he grows out of these shoes!

- Luke loves to ride his plasma car in the basement. He can really get going and take the turns fast!

Pregnancy Update

The end is in sight! Here's my belly pic at 38 weeks. I don't feel that big... until I see my side view. Then I feel huge! Amazing to think I've only gained 12 pounds. Although, it's not a huge accomplishment seeing as I never lost all of the 'baby weight' from my other pregnancies. It makes me wonder just how big Evelyn is going to be, as this is my first pregnancy with an 'outie' belly button and my belly skin seems stretched so tight!

I've been sleeping better, but still get tired out easily. On most days I get to take a nap while Luke naps and the girls color and watch PBS. I'm usually beat by 7:00pm though! I've got all the normal pregnancy complaints of heartburn, not being able to take a deep breath, feeling full faster, and uncomfortable bending over. I am so grateful though that my hip and back pain never came back, I just have a bit of soreness in my legs by evening or if I drive too long or sit too long in one position. I have to concentrate hard to not waddle when I walk. I have only a handful of shirts that are still long enough! Creamy foods or sweets don't sound appetizing at all, my cravings are all about crunchy and salty-- like nacho cheese and refried beans with chips, barbecue chips, kettle chips... a trend you think? 

I was induced at 41 weeks with Cora, Violet came on her own 3 days after my due date, and I was induced with Luke at 39 weeks (mostly due to back and hip pain). So I've been pretty sure that little Evelyn is not going to be an early comer. The induction date is set for Thursday April 19th... less than a week! However, at my last appointment my doctor said he wouldn't be surprised if she came before then. That news sent me into a bit of a tailspin. I've washed some newborn clothes, but that's all the preparation we've done so far. We've been occupied with birthdays and Easter, and have put off all the baby preparations. Hopefully we'll get the most important things done before she comes! I've got a big list to work on.... 

Happy Easter!

Here are our cutie pies Easter morning! 

Here's a Happy Easter greeting, complete with some 'ho,ho,ho's left over from Christmas.

They opened their little Easter baskets from Kevin and I. They were excited!

As the choir pianist I had to leave for church early for a final practice. Kevin finished getting the kids all ready for church and snapped these Easter pics. 

Happy....

Pretty happy....

and meltdown!!

Poor Lukey refused to take a nap on the early side, like he'll usually do on church days... the only thing that makes 1:00 church doable. He was a bit difficult in Sacrament meeting, but good in nursery and made it through the family Easter get-together well afterward, so I count myself lucky. 

We had a yummy Easter dinner, followed by an egg hunt in the backyard. 

Luke liked picking up eggs for a while, then headed for the sandbox for something he must have thought was more exciting! After about 5 minutes of play, he went back to egg hunting. 

Luke was so excited about all of the candy, and that he had very few limits on how much of it he got to eat that night! When Kevin got him out of his crib the next morning, his first words were "Daddy, I want candy!". 

(maybe you can see... our Easter decorations up in the dining area. Maybe just laziness, but I called it multi-purposing! I ended up using basically the same decorations for Emily's bridal shower, Violet's party, and Easter. We had festiveness going on at our house for about 7 weeks straight!)

Luke was enthralled with Layla, he loved watching her! At the end of the evening, she was laying out on a blanket in her onesie and Luke was pretty excited to get a close-up look at her hands and toes. It will be interesting to see how he does when Evelyn is here! He loves babies and points out babies and infant carseats while we grocery shop, and he'll point to my tummy and kiss it when I ask where Evelyn is. 

Afterward we celebrated the birthdays for our March and April people (in Utah at least!)... Jen, Bailee, and Violet. 

And watched one of the beautiful Bible videos  that came out this Spring. It was a wonderful Easter! 

Spring Break

I had some fun plans for Spring Break, but Luke was a bit under the weather for the first part of it, so we had to cut back a little. Luckily he got over his little stomach bug quickly, and we still had some fun times! Although we didn't make it swimming or to TITP, we did get to meet up with Heather and company for a fun visit to the Church History Museum and lunch, had some nice days at the park, dyed Easter eggs, and had a good trip to the dentist (the girls have been looking forward to going for a while now, so I guess I can count it as Spring Break fun, right??). 

At first Luke wanted watercolors, to be just like Cora. But he got so frustrated not being able to get the colors out, he demanded the other kind of paints and was much happier! 

Smiling just for mom

Hard at work

We stuck with pretty traditional egg decorating this year. Luke wanted so badly to be involved, but not too many eggs withstood his two year old hands. He had fun for a while... and then had fun with Daddy in another room! The girls loved it and were eager to set up this display of their work.

Kevin was able to capture some good park pictures of the kids. Luke has been more adventurous with the big slides, but prefers being able to do the little slides all by himself and loves to practice going up and down the stairs alone, holding onto the lower handrail. Cora finally did the monkey bars all by herself this week! I think she's been capable for quite a while, but needed someone there to touch her leg for confidence. Violet mastered the fireman pole and was so proud of herself! It's wonderful having the lovely weather back... even if it has been interspersed with snowstorms here and there!

We picked up Blue Hat, Green Hat  at the library and I was surprised at how much of a hit it was! We got some great laughs from the kids while reading it. Once we pulled out the camera, some of the laughter got a little overdone, but you get the idea. It's a simple book, with a lot of silliness. 

And not exactly during Spring Break, but we've made two trips to the new City Creek mall since it has opened. I'm not a big shopper at all, but it sure is a fun place to explore and walk through! How great that my parents live right next to it! :). We've had a lot of fun browsing the Disney Store, spotting fish in the creek, playing at the splash pad, watching the fountain shows, playing at the food court play area, and watching the trains (Trax) go under us while we're on the sky bridge. I'm sure we'll have many more days of playing there to come! 

Cora's Loose Tooth

Cora's tooth has been loose for such a loooong time. For some reason, she didn't want Kevin to pull it out, even though she was just fine with that for her last tooth. This tooth was so loose it was bugging her, and she kept complaining about it but didn't want us to do anything about it! She could even twist it around most of the way. Yuck! It finally fell out in the middle of the night and thankfully she didn't choke on it. The Tooth Fairy brought her a dollar, which she spent at the Dollar Store. I made sure we had a lot of time to look, and I think she had more fun looking and deciding than actually playing with the toy she got. Now her other top front tooth is getting really loose too, and she's already singing "All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" and wondering how she'll say her 'th's!