Welcome Amelia Marie!!!

We were all set for Amelia to make her debut... everything went just as we planned, which I laugh about because birth plans never happen so perfectly.  It helps to have 5 kids and know what my body is known to do.  I was 39 1/2 weeks pregnant and had a doctor's appointment on December 1.  I knew he was willing to strip my membranes.  I was already at 4 cm.  Tyler was able to square away paternity leave for a month!  So he started it on the first.  As far as we knew, we would be having a baby that day or the next.

After the appointment, I was having consistent, but very light, contractions every 5 minutes.  We had lunch and I showered.  We also waited for Makenzie to come home from school, as she was going to be present for the birth.  We decided to go into the hospital just to see if they would keep us. That was at 3:30pm.  They monitored me for an hour and my doctor gave them permission to keep me.  So we went through all the admit stuff.  I got my epidural (not really needing it at that moment.) My doctor came and broke my water at 5:45.  My epidural wasn't working on my right side, so they had to make a few adjustments.  Afterwards, my nurse told me to let her know when I felt pressure.  She was gone for less than a minute--no joke-- and I felt the pressure.  Sure enough, Amelia was ready to come!  We then had to track down the doctor for 10-15 minutes.  That was the worse feeling... not to push when you wanted to.  The doc came--and I pushed once-- and Amelia was born at 6:42pm.  

The morning of December 1....

Some of the first pictures of Amelia!  Makenzie was our picture-taker!  I'm so glad to have had her in the room to experience childbirth firsthand with her mother and little sister.

The hospital was great in the fact that I got skin-to-skin contact with Amelia from the very beginning and they let ME decide when we were ready to hand her over to get her stats and initial check.  Within 15 minutes after birth all medical personnel were gone, and we got to enjoy her quietly by ourselves.

Little Miss was 6 lbs, 8 oz and 19 inches long.

 All the siblings got to come steal a quick peek at her before bedtime. They had Amelia swaddled in 3 blankets, so she looked like an Eskimo.  Ellionna was just so excited!  She kept repeating in a squealing voice, "She is so cute!!"  and "I just love my baby sister!"

Gavin is loving is little sister too!  He will sing her such cute songs.

Jordan is the "least" interested in the baby, but he still is happy to have a new baby in the house.

And look at that beaming big sis!!  She has been such a big help in so many ways.  She loves holding her and has even changed a few diapers.

 First picture as a family of 7!

Just lovin' on my baby.

 I went home less than 24 hours after birth.  

I'd much rather be home.

Ellionna hung out with us until we were discharged the next day.   Her face shows it all!

Xela meeting Amelia for the first time... She is patiently waiting for the cue.

Yep.... she just sleeps a lot.  She is our "noisiest" sleeper so far.... lots of grunts and groans.  We just hold her constantly and watch the cute little faces we get.  

 

We decided to bless her while we had both of our parents here visiting.  She was only a week and a half old.  The blessing dress drowned her.

Working hard on paternity leave--- aka VACATION!

Sherman happenings worth blogging about

Here is the latest pictures....

Makenzie participated in a small children's theater production.  It was just a week long event.  They put on "Black Beard, the Pirate."  Makenzie was a crab.  She is on the far left in the picture. 

Jordan bit his tongue and, of course, bandaids fix everything!

I accompanied Jordan's class on a field trip.  It as a dreary fall morning, but the kids learned about canoeing and went on a ride in the river.  Here he is practicing before going out.

Tyler was telling Jordan about when he was in elementary and had a little bracelet making business.  Jordan decided he would make comic books and sell them too.  I was surprised to find out that he sold one for $5!!!  I told him that was probably a little too high of a price.  He didn't sell anymore after that and the poor little girl who bought his comic book hopefully learned her lesson not to do that again. 

I'm constantly finding selfies of this kid on my phone!

Gavin took it upon himself to make use of this box.  He worked so hard painting and decorating it up as his space ship.  All the kids enjoyed using their imaginations with it as well.

 We had a FHE lesson about putting on the armor of God.  All the kids got to try it on, but it was quite funny to see little Ellionna hardly fit in the stuff.

This little stinker decided to cut her hair!! (Gavin did it the first time)  Unfortunately, her cut wasn't so workable as was the last one.  She cut her bangs and the sides quite short.  This picture does not do the damage justice.  Oh, well!

I discovered that she also gave the dog a haircut too!

Poor puppy!

 Ellionna is enjoying playing Twister by herself.

This dog of ours finds trouble everyday.  I thought cats are suppose to like playing with a ball of yarn.  It is a favorite with Xela.  This is a picture of her getting caught.  

She acts like Tyler's baby all the time. 

 She loves him so much, although he is her main disciplinarian.  

Happy Halloween

This is what we had for Halloween this year...

Gavin requested to be a pirate, but by the end of the night he had shed most of his costume.

Jordan is a Star Wars character

Ellionna decided on being a Mermaid

And Makenzie was a "Corpse Bride" ??? 

And poor Xela had to endure just a picture with the lion hat.

We trick-or-treated down the city's main street, ate pizza where the kids ate free, and then hit one small neighborhood for trick-or-treating. We had a little bit of wet weather, but it worked out for us this year.

First big home project

 With being first-time home buyers, we have found projects to do to make it more "our home."  We both have visions and dreams of certain changes.  The backyard was one of them that we quickly agreed upon, so we made it our summer project.  There was this big berm of plants that were half dead in our backyard. We felt it was just a lot of wasted space for such a small yard.







We decided to take everything out and level the dirt down a bit.  The kids enjoyed this huge sandbox for most of the summer. 

We decided to make an outdoor patio for socializing, dinners, and movies.  It has been quite the project us novice home-owners and we learned a lot.

This is still not the finished project, which won't happen until the Spring, but you get the idea.  The arborvitaes bring shade to the area very early in the afternoon during the summers, so it perfectly placed.  We hope to invest in more outdoor furniture and a fireplace as well.  

Sleeping angels

The younger two kids hardly ever nap anymore.  It's a special surprise when they do!  I always love capturing those rare moments when it's all of a sudden a lot quieter! 

Too bad my shopping partner fell asleep on the way to the store....

And then he was sick this day....

Once school started, Ellionna wasn't use to having such a quiet house.  

It wasn't a surprise to find her sleeping randomly where she was playing.

And Xela has her naps too....