Baby Tag

1. Where were you when you first found out you when you found out you were pregnant? I have always found out with home pregnancy tests, so at HOME.
2. Who was with you? My hubby
3. What was your first reaction? I was very excited with all three, but more nervous with the first one, but none of them were surprises
4. What was your husband's reaction? He was excited too, although the excitement wears down a little with each one – probably because we’ve been there before and both of us know what to expect
5. Who was the first person you told? Our parents
6. Were the pregnancies planned? Yes.
7. Was everyone happy for you? Yes, although many were shocked when we got pregnant with Avery only a few months after we got married.
8. What was the sex? All girls
9. Did anyone throw a shower for you? I had two showers scheduled, but I went into labor three weeks early so I missed them by a few days. I did have a small surprise shower for Hayden with family since I missed out the first time around.
10. Did you get any outfits you wouldn't use? I did exchange a few pricey ones that were new. ( I would rather have 2 or 3 outfits than one fancy baby dress. )
11. How much weight did you gain? About 25 pounds with the first two and 30 the last time
12. Did you get stretch marks? A few on my rear, but none on my belly (which I am very grateful for)
13. Did you crave anything crazy? Not really, however chocolate milk always sounds good when I’m pregnant
14. Who or what got on your nerves the most? Just waiting at the end and not knowing when I will go into labor. I am not very patient during the last few weeks, especially after having the first one early.
15. Where were you when you went into labor? Thankfully I have been at home when my labor started with all three babies
16. Did you have any complications? With Avery, I had some type of uterine infection which gave me a high fever, so they had to keep her in the NICU for three days to monitor her. I also have weird reactions to epidurals. They never work on my right side for some reason, and each time they have given me more meds, I have gotten sick and the baby’s heart rate has lowered. That is one of the reasons I decided to have my last baby Kiley naturally.
17. Did your water break? Only with Hayden – and thankfully it was only trickling until we made it to the hospital 45 minutes away.
18. Who drove you to the hospital? Brandon
19. Did you go early or late? 3 weeks early with Avery, 1 day late with Hayen, and 5 days early with Kiley.
20. Who was in the room? Just me and my hubby.
21. Did you video tape it? Heck no - even I would have been traumatized to hear myself scream like that.
22. Did you have any pain medication? (See # 16 above)
23. Did you have a c-section or natural? Natural
24. What was your reaction to the birth? Each time I have been amazed that this tiny person just came out of my body. I love holding them for the first time. After delivering Kiley, my initial reaction was, “That was the most pain I have ever felt in my life and I am never doing that again.” I really had no idea how painful child labor was until I went through it with no drugs. I have a much greater respect for the pioneer women and all of those tough mothers who gave birth in horrible conditions. At least I had a hospital bed and ice chips!
25. How big was the baby? Avery was 7 lbs. 1 oz. Hayden was 8 lbs. 5 oz. and Kiley was 7 lbs. 5 oz.
26. Did your husband cry? He did wirh Avery - the first one is emotional for everyone
27. When is the next one coming? Not for a few years (the last one is still fresh in my mind – and my body!)
28. If you could would you do it all over again? Absolutely! There is nothing greater than being a mom, and I know now more than ever how important that calling is. It is definitely worth all of the sacrifices and hard days and diapers and crying. There is nothing more joyous than watching your baby smile back at you, or hearing your toddler say, “I love you Mommy.” It is the best job in the world!

I'm not going to tag anyone specifically. I would love to hear your baby stories though if you want to answer these questions too.

The Joy of Babies and Being a Mom

As I was looking through my blog posts, I realized that I didn't have many pictures of our baby Kiley on here, so I thought I would add some pics of our littlest girl today. She was born on May 26th, so she is 4 months old now. She is such a happy baby and I have really enjoyed having a little baby again - I think even more than the first two, I have to admit. I think the main reason for that is that the more babies you have, the easier it gets and the less you stress out about every little thing. It does help tremendously that she is a great sleeper!

I have noticed myself holding her a little longer recently after feeding her and kissing her cheeks more. I think that's because I look at my other two daughters who are growing up so fast and I know that Kiley will not be little for very much longer. It goes by way too fast!

I know I'm not the best photographer, but here are some recent pictures of Kiley. She loves her "rainforest" swing (and so do I!). She takes many of her naps there during the day while I am doing stuff around the house.

Lately, Kiley has been reaching and grabbing onto her toes. It is quite entertaining to watch her try to get them and pull them up to her face. She is starting to explore a little more what's around her and is close to rolling over.

I wish I was this flexible!

Kiley has been such a joy and I am so grateful to have her in our family. I truly love being a mom and although it's challenging and hard and frustrating some days (okay - every day!), there are sweet moments and "tender mercies" that make it all worth it and help me get through every day. I think that is why babies start smiling when they're two months old. We are exhausted and worn out and then all of a sudden our baby smiles back at us and melts our heart and we forget all of the sleeplessness and worries. And then they start sleeping better and we start feeling like a "normal" person again and motherhood gets a little bit easier.
If you haven't read the poem below called "Before I was a Mom", I highly recommend it. It brought tears to my eyes the first time I read it and it explained so many feelings that I have had myself about being a mom. I hope you all have a nice day and give your babies a few extra kisses today.

Before I was a Mom

My Mom sent me a copy of this poem a few weeks ago. I thought it depicted motherhood very well. I'm sure many of you can relate.

"Before I was a Mom"

Before I was a Mom
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom -
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom
I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin .
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put him down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom -
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom -
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love,
the heartache,the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom.

Preschool

Tues. of this week (Sept. 2nd) was Avery's first day of preschool. She has been begging me to go ever since I told her about it three weeks ago. Instead of paying for her to go to a traditional preschool, a group of moms and I decided to do a Joy School program where we each trade off doing the preschool at our house. Since there are eight kids in her class, we only have to teach every eight weeks, so we get a long break in between.

This is Avery with one of her best friends, Kayla Riggs. I forgot my camera, but thanks to another mom there, she snapped a picture of the girls together. They gave each other a big hug when they saw each other. It was really cute!

This was today (Thurs.) before Avery's second day of preschool. Today they learned about up and down and painted and played outside and colored pictures. She had so much fun. And although you can't see the front of her backpack, it of course has princesses on it, which she loves. It wasn't my first pick, but she's 4, so whatever. Anyway, preschool has been fun and I don't have to host it until Halloween, so that's even better! It's a great way to do preschool by the way. If any of you mom are interested, let me know and I can tell you about the book we are using for it. It has a lot of fun stuff in it!

Playing Dress-up

Of course, having three girls, there will always be "dress-up" time at our house. Avery and Hayden love putting on dresses, or whatever else they can find, and dancing around the house.



Avery loves to climb on her bunkbed too, so wearing dress-up clothes and climbing at the same time was just too much fun for her.
Hayden and Avery love dancing together. It is actually more like Avery pulling Hayden around in circles until she falls down, but whatever it is, they both enjoy it.
Okay, Hayden has been in this kissing phase lately, where she kisses everyone and everything in front of her. And she not only has to kiss you on the lips, but she also has to grab your face and pull you in to plant a big smooch. Luckily, her big sister Avery likes kisses too. I'm glad I got this "sisterly affection" on camera, because a large portion of their time together consists of fighting over toys and pushing each other. (I'm sure that doesn't sound familiar to anyone else out there!)

Did I mention Hayden loves shoes? She is going to be a shoe-a-holic someday. She especially loves princess shoes and anything with heels.
It was really fun watching them play together in their dress-up clothes. It brought me back to being a little girl again and transforming into whatever costume I dressed up in. It also reminded me that I need to do these things with them more often, because some day they will be too old for this kind of stuff and I will wish I had done it more.

Tagged

I got tagged by Jocey. How to play this game. Post these rules on your blog; List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5-6 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

Joys
1. My Family
2. 70-degree weather
3. Peanut butter cup Blizzards

Fears
1. Losing my husband or children
2. Getting in a car accident
3. Letting people down

Goals
1. Fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans
2. Teach my children how to be kind to others
3. Get out of debt

Current Obsessions
1. Scrapbooking
2. Ice Cream
3. Watching the Olympics

Random Surprising Facts about Myself
1. My elbows hyperextend
2. I met Brandon 10 years ago in high school
3. I wanted to be an orthodontist when I grew up

I tag Erin Ross, Cari Wilson, Laura Bouck, Nettie McBride, and Hayley Crandall.

Kiley's Baby Blessing

Last Sunday we blessed our baby Kiley and it was such a wonderful day. We had so many family members who came to support us and Kiley. She wore the same blessing dress that Avery and Hayden wore, which was kind of special.


This picture above is of Brandon's family who came to the blessing. All of his family was there except for his sister Heather and her family who live in Washington now. It was so great to see all of them though.
This is my aunt Karen and my parents who also came to the blessing. My sister Lynndsey and her family were there too but had to leave early. They also blessed their baby that day as well, so we were ward-hopping last Sunday. We really appreciate everyone who made the effort to come for the blessing. It's so nice to have so many family members live close by - at least within an hour of us. It was such a spiritual day and it reminded me of how blessed I am to have three healthy daughters, an amazing husband, and such wonderful family members on both sides of our family who love and support us. Thank you all again! (Now I get to scrapbook these pictures in Kiley's new album - yea!)