I made stir-fry and rice for dinner.
I made12 dollars grading Spanish tests.
I made a meal for a friend.
I made a St. Patrick's Day rainbow craft with Carson.
I made whole wheat buttermilk muffins.
I made the kitchen clean again.
I made my bed.
I made up a story to tell the boys before bed.
I made my library account clear by paying a late fee. (oops.)
I made Carson's day by taking him to the library.
I made my husband's lunch for tomorrow.
All those things are nice, but let's be honest. The best thing that happened today was that I made this pretty little girl smile.
A few more pictures from today.
Carson actually makes her smile way more than anyone.
It was a beautiful Sunday. 70 degrees! Everett is my outdoors boy and sure enjoyed it yesterday. He has also recently decided that he is a big boy. I can still hear him saying, "I do it!" since that was his most common declaration today. This is particularly entertaining for me, since my first born still doesn't show much of a desire to do things on his own. Everett is showing me what an independent streak is.
Everett has also recently decided to potty train himself, and when I let him wear the beloved Thomas the Train underwear around the house he does very well. He is still a baby to me, and it seems funny to see him sitting on the potty. Oh well, I guess he really is growing up!
Faye's most recent visitors were two of her aunts. These boys had SO much fun playing with Suzette and Jeanel. Watching Everett and Suzette play hide-and-seek was one of my favorite things. Carson's excitement about his "date" with Jeanel was a close second. The aunts took the boys to the library one day and to the Children's Museum another, allowing me to have some quality time with just my baby girl. Now THAT might be my favorite thing!
Had to re-create this picture from 4.5 years ago!
We all had so much fun with these sisters. We will have to keep having babies so they come out to see us. :)
Grandma GJ came all the way from Utah to meet our sweet baby. Faye is grandchild number 20 for her and Grandpa Sam, and after 6 boy grandchildren in a row, I think they were ready for a little girl!
For Carson, the highlight of her visit was the Un-Birthday Party. Carson and his Grandma planned all the details of the party together and decided on yellow cupcakes with yellow frosting, a pin-the-tail game, and a bowling game. They went shopping at the dollar store, put up decorations, etc. What a fun Grandma!
The boys, ready for the bowling game.
This was a pretty fun game, too. I can't remember what it was though; maybe see how many toys you can balance on daddy?
Everett loves singing happy birthday and pretending to blow out candles. The other day he had my hairbrush and decided it looked like a bunch of candles, so of course he sang and tried to blow them out.
This boy was very happy with his yellow cupcake and yellow frosting. He really enjoyed his time with his Grandma!
Shortly after this little thing was born, she hosted a whole slew of visitors! First up, Grandmama and Pappy. Grandmama took a whole week off of work, and we got to see Pappy on the weekends when he drove her back and forth.
Grandmama adoring her grandkids.
Grandmama always gives the first bath at home.
Getting ready to do sparklers.
Yeah right, like he's going to hold that thing!
Faye's not so snuggly like this anymore!
Thanks to my parents for making Faye's first week at home a wonderful time! Especially to my mom for somehow getting Everett to sit in his chair and eat dinner, and for taking Faye at 3 a.m. a couple of times when she was figuring out how to sleep at night and wake up during the day.
(Here he's pictured looking at Jeanel's iPad. Carson is scared of or cautious about most things. Reading The Monster at the End of This Book on the iPad was particularly suspenseful for him.)
Monday is library day. And a bag full of new books sitting in his room makes it really difficult for our Carson to fall asleep during nap time. I could take the books, of course, but I sort of like hearing his little voice in there, and it means an early bed time for sure! We sure love new library books around here.
There's still usually one time between feedings during the day when Faye just can't stay awake. It's so funny to do everything possible to entertain and wake her up, and inevitably those eyelids just get heavy and we lose her. The boys think it's so funny when she does this; we pretend she's talking to us by moving her lower lip, and then suddenly she drops off to sleep. (Here she's snoozing on Aunt Jeanel's lap.)
We like to use our kids' middle names to name them after someone in the family. Looks like we might be three for three on their names matching their looks.
First, there is our Carson Samuel James. He is pretty much a miniature of his daddy, Richard Samuel James, and also looks like his Grandpa, the original Samuel James.
Then there's sweet little Everett Dickson, and this kid is a Dickson for sure. There are some pictures of me at Everett's age that look exactly like him.
And our Faye girl. Looks like she's got dimples, just like Aunt Jeanel!
We are feeling grateful for good families these days and hope these three will honor their great middle names.
Doesn't she look lovely? She pooped all over her beautiful white blessing dress before we could take any pictures, and of course I didn't have any extra clothes for her, so this is how she came home from church. What a sweet girl.
I love how this wall turned out! Before Faye was born, I knew that if she was a girl I wanted to use Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms fabric in her room somehow. My friend Carrie's baby shower gift to me was a bunch of that exact fabric. I am super happy with the decision to make them into flowers for this wall!
Cheeks are still nice and chubby. Legs are still skinny. Eyes are turning dark blue, we think. 9 pounds 2 ounces at her two-week appointment. And somehow now she is four weeks old! Definitely has a fussy time in the evening. But then usually sleeps 5-6 hours.
Has given a couple of smiles (but only for Daddy, of course).
Is absolutely adored by her biggest brother. Carson will drop anything to get her a diaper or burp rag. He always wants to hold her. He "plays" with her, talks to her, etc. etc. etc. I am surprised that he is so entertained by her even though she just lays there. In this pictures she is in his "rocket ship" with him.
Doesn't get much attention from this brother. He has gotten mad at her a couple of times when she's occupying my lap. ("No way, baby!!") And don't be confused...Everett is not in a rocket ship; his is a boat at this moment. I love how he's starting to get into all the imaginative play like Carson.
Will be ready to move into her room pretty soon. The reason I took this picture is because I realized that when I am thinking about decorating a room, I get so into it that I start dressing like the room. I used to love the chocolate brown/light blue combo and would often find myself wearing those colors. Faye's room is teal and pink, and I think that subconsciously affected my outfit choice yesterday.
And doesn't Faye look huge??? I am a little sad that she seems to already be past the newborn stage.
A few days after Faye was born, I just had to visit my favorite little fabric shop. I have never been so happy looking at girly fabrics. The first project is finished: the cutest crib sheet ever.
I think she likes it.
Up next, I want to do some fabric wall silhouettes, like this. But I'm having trouble deciding what shapes to do. Not a giant rooster. I thought of doing several small flowers, or birds, or something, but I can't settle on an idea that I love. Ideas, please?
This was the first year we made Valentines at our house. What would we do without blogs for quick, easy ideas? We gave bouncy balls (from Everett), and Carson made his tootsie pop cards. I love how fun those picture cards look.
Even though nursing her made me sick for the first two weeks of her life, resulting in me finally showing up at the doctor convinced I was about to die. The antibiotics work like a charm, and we're hoping to never hear the word 'mastitis' around here again.
There are a lot of nice babies out there, but we're pretty sure Faye is one of the prettiest of them all.
I really, really did not want to be induced to have this baby. I am one of those believers in a woman's body knowing what to do as far as carrying and delivering a baby are concerned. But after the due date came and went, and after spending a day sick from taking castor oil and trying every other natural induction technique under the sun, everyone seemed to agree that it was time. So the date was set, and in we went to the hospital at 4 p.m. on January 26th. I felt pretty nervous the whole day. I've had two exciting, natural deliveries, and this whole business of showing up at the hospital and having my labor artificially started for me was still unsettling and disappointing to me.
Since I am GBS positive, it was important for me to receive an antibiotic for at least four hours prior to the delivery. (Neither of my baby boys were able to get the full dose of the antibiotic because those labors were too fast, which puts the baby at risk for pneumonia, meningitis, etc.) So, at about 6 p.m. I was started on the antibiotic and given the tiniest bit of pitocin. This made for a very boring four hours! Rick and I caught up on the latest episode of Biggest Loser and just enjoyed being together. At some point, Rick gave me a blessing, which helped calm me and reassured me that this was a good way for this baby to come to us.
At 11 p.m., it was time to get things started. Up until this point I had really only been feeling a few tiny contractions. My doctor came in and broke my water, and they turned up the pitocin a bit more. About a half hour later, the contractions started to become more intense. I was able to take the monitors off for a while and labor on the birthing ball, with Rick massaging my back during each contraction.
At some point I got back in the bed, just breathing through those intense contractions. I think the doctor checked me and I was dilated to a 6, and I knew that those last few centimeters could go pretty quickly. The contractions really intensified, and they turned down the pitocin, letting my body do the work now. As transition came, I just had to change positions again, and I jumped up on all fours on the bed. (Thank you, Rick, for not being embarrassed of me!) That position really helped me get through those last strong contractions. I stood up and hung on to Rick for maybe just one more contraction, and then the urge to push came suddenly, really just taking over my body and making me push.
The doctor suggested I avoid having the baby on the floor and get back into the bed. Rick was all suited up and ready to deliver the baby, so he moved down to the end of the bed, and I grabbed the nurse's hand and breathed with her as the pushing started. This was at about 1:30 a.m., and I was so exhausted and worried about having the energy to push this baby out. The nurses were great cheerleaders, and I loved being able to look up at Rick and push the baby towards him. It was like we were working together; I did my job, and he did his, and we both encouraged each other. (Ok, so my way of encouraging him was to angrily yell something like, "PULL IT OUT, RICK," but I think he can forgive me since I was in the middle of something pretty painful at that point.) Rick did a beautiful job delivering, no episiotomy or tearing, and the baby was placed on my chest. I was pretty emotional at this point and just so happy to finally have this baby in my arms. Then somebody said it was a girl, and if I said I was emotional and happy before, this brought things to a whole new level. I just couldn't stop crying and saying, "We have a girl!! I can't believe it's a girl!! Rick!! We have a girl!!" I'm pretty sure everyone else in the room was laughing at me, and I was just wrapped up in this moment of realizing that I will forever be the mother to a beautiful girl.
In the end, it was a perfect delivery. I am actually grateful that I was induced. Perhaps this little one needed those four hours of antibiotics, which I wouldn't have been able to get if I had had another fast delivery. I am grateful that my boys were being taken care of by Carrie, one of their favorite people in the world. I am grateful that my labor was during nurse Rhonda's shift. When she walked in the room and said, "now I want to make this experience exactly how you want it to be," I knew she was one-of-a-kind. I am grateful that I was induced in the afternoon, because Jamie and Meghan were able to make it to take some priceless photos. I am grateful that Dr. Namak was my doctor, and that she allowed Rick to deliver his daughter. I am actually grateful for the late-night delivery, because the exhaustion sort of forced me to relax and close my eyes between those intense contractions. This little girl was worth the wait, and the worry, and the pain, and now the sacrifices of comfort and sleep. She is just perfect, and I wouldn't have her any other way.
