Happy Halloween

....from a couple of pumpkins.

A 2 week vacay... I deserved it, right?

I have spent the last 16 days snuggling this:

and kissing and squishing this:

While eating far too many of these:

(Yes, I know, great for ridding that postpartum belly gush...)

While having many of my meals (that I did not prepare) served to me here:


(For the record, that it is not my bed. And yes, this is the best picture I could find. I don't advise googling 'breakfast in bed'. And is that the hugest tray you've ever seen? Pretty much I think they brought up the whole kitchen table. Just sayin'.)

While Chris took care of them:


...and everything else.
Sound blissful? It was!
Awesome husband? He is!
My mom stayed to help take care of the kids and house for four days after Lexi came home

(bless her),
and Chris was able to be home from work for all of the rest of the days other than 3 out of 15! I have definitely been spoiled and loved spending all that one on one time with my newest baby girl while all other operations around here were taken care of! I think Lexi kind of liked it too.
 She's my newest pal.
And quite possibly my favorite child... for the moment.
Don't tell the others.
She's been such a great little baby!
Okay, so why wouldn't she be when I've been able to promptly meet her every whim and fancy since she's all I've had to worry about for 2 weeks straight? Still, I think she's pretty great. For now I am checking the "great baby" box.

Yesterday it was back to business as usual...no more vacation time (aka snuggling my baby in bed all day while Chris tackles the dirty work). Poor Chris ended up contracting Strep on Tuesday and has since been banished to the basement bedroom since he walked in the door from Instacare on Tuesday.  We haven't seen him since. Really.  Don't worry, I delivered him some pajamas and I leave food and Ib Profen by the door.
We take germs seriously around here. ;) No joke.

Beyond that, life around here has been a big thumbs up!
Okay so a little more sleep would be nice, nursing that didn't feel like a baracuda were latching on to me every three hours would be a huge perk, and a 3 year old who were more proactive about going potty in the potty would make life EXTRA fantastic, but overall I really can't complain!

I mean, how can I when I have this little munchkin staring up at me?

(18 days old)
*Sigh*.
I love her. :)

She's here!!!

We are sooooo happy to announce the arrival of our sweet baby
ALEXIS FAITH
aka
LEXI


(picture taken at 6 days old)

ARRIVED: October 4, 2011

AT: 10:33 a.m.

WEIGHING: 6 Pounds even

18 1/2 inches
Our smallest baby by 9 ounces and a whole inch!

A run down of "The Story"...and please excuse the abundance of bed head in these photos:)

Happy as a clam, bed head and all... ready to have this long awaited for baby!

At 4 a.m. on Tuesday, October 4th, (37 weeks, 6 days pregnant) I awoke to a strong contraction (totally normal for me for weeks on end) and an even stronger need to relieve my bladder. Wincing in pain and just SO BEYOND READY TO BE DONE with by FAR my hardest pregnancy, as I waddled to the bathroom I chanted over and over in my head, "Please let my water break, PLEASE let my water break!".
Well, my wish came true!
Next thing I know, I felt this HUGE GUSH of water. I couldn't believe it! I was SO EXCITED but at the same time wondered if it were possible that I had just peed all over myself, LOL. After finishing my trip to the bathroom and confirming that it was definitely my water that had broken, I poked my head out of the bathroom and urgently told Chris to wake up. I don't think I've ever seen him scramble so fast in 11 years, no joke. My past pregnancies had ended in inductions, so this movie-like scenario was quite the new experience for us.
I was shaking with excitement and just thrilled to have this day finally arrive!

Having been 90% effaced and dilated to a 3-3 1/2 for weeks, we moved FAST not wanting to have this baby in the car! So Parker and Emmie came along for the excitement to the hospital and Grandma and Grandpa Hansen soon after met us there to pick them up. The kids didn't mind being woken up at 4 a.m. and were happy to be a part of all the excitement that we'd been building up to for months.

Upon arrival to the hospital my contractions had stopped and I was relieved to find out that I was dilated to just 5.5 cm. I quickly got my blessed epidural (given via a neighbor in our ward!) and we waited for a bit before starting pitocin so that my mom could make it up from St. George for the birth. As she got closer we turned up the pitocin just a tiny bit and by 10:15 I was ready to start pushing....3 sets of pushes later, our little Lexi was finally here!!!

SO EASY! I have been blessed to have three amazing deliveries! No problems, perfect epidurals to where I am still feeling the pressure and know when to push... I have been very lucky! I was worried that this time would be my "nightmare" labor story since I had not yet had one, but everything worked out perfectly. Including that my doctor even was able to deliver me. Had we had to deliver right when we got the hospital, it would have been one of his colleagues.

The proud Pops!

The oh-so happy mama right after delivery... not only thrilled to have her baby girl safely here, but soooo glad to have that baby out of my belly! This was truly such a hard pregnancy on me! I had been having painful contractions since 28 weeks and my body was in pain almost all of the time. After several recent breakdowns I even went out a few weeks back and bought a belly support band. It really helped - I wish I had found it earlier! Basically I was pretty miserable this last couple of months.
I also had some 'minor' surprises/issues this time around...Do you see the "pregnancy mask" sprinkled all over my cheeks and above my upper lip that I attained during this pregnancy? Cute, eh? Yep, I walked away with all kinds of treats this time. With Parker I didn't even get stretch marks. I thought I was home free after having him. Wow, was I wrong. :) I even grew an age spot on my cheek this time. Serioulsy?! I guess it's true that the older you are and the more pregnancies, the harder it is on your body. Chris has been good to remind me of the older part these last few months. I did turn 32 a few weeks ago so maybe there is truth to it. :/

But in the end it has of course been all worth it for this....

Our precious baby Lexi! We adore her!

Grandma H brought the kids up later that day to meet their new baby sis. They were darling with her and Emmie was beyond excited. She kept saying things like, "she's so CUTE!" and "Oh, I think she wants ME to hold her", and "MOM! You POPPED!"...(she said some pretty funny things but between meds and sleep deprivation I really can't remember...!)

The proud grandparents!

Alexis struggled with low blood sugar those first few days (common for such small babies) and has high levels of jaundice so she is our yellow baby, but she finally checked out good today after another trip to the hospital (although her levels are still 14.3), and now we are just trying to get used to the eating thing...Don't get me started on nursing.... PURE TORTURE those first few weeks I tell ya! 

2 1/2 days old... coming home from the hospital!  It's been such a nice warm Fall here in UT but it actually snowed the day we brought her home (it had melted by the time we left however)! I LOVE this time of year and am definitely having visions of  Halloween/Harvest themed birthday parties in the future. SO FUN!!!

We are definitely in love over here and so happy to finally have this sweet baby girl here!
What a miracle having a baby is!
 I am LOVING having a newborn again (if I can just make it through the nursing thing!)!

Oh so exciting stats

Amidst my pregnancy-related reluctance to blog this last few months, I failed to record Parker and Emmie's 5 and 3-year-old stats.
Better late than never, right?
Not that anyone out there is slightly interested in my children's height and weight but for my own record keeping sake, here we go....

P-Man turned the big FIVE in July (in case you missed like 3 whole posts about his birthday below) and his stats go as follows:

WEIGHT: 41 lbs, 51st % ile

BMI: 15.32, 47th % ile

HEIGHT: 43.5 inches, 59th %ile

I am pleased to say that despite a 5'2 mama, he is doing just fine in the stature department!;)

Missy Em turned 3 back at the end of August and her stats are right up there by her brother's...
WEIGHT: 30.2 lbs, 46th %ile
BMI: 15.3, 36th %ile
HEIGHT: 37.25 inches, 57th %ile

So happy to have happy, healthy kids!
Now if #3 would just arrive, her mom could get back to being happy and healthy too....:)