Christmas Sunday

This was a very last minute shot (with BAD lighting...ugh) I took before heading out the door to church on Sunday. Since we'd just had Ella last week and didn't go to church, this was "Christmas Sunday" for us. :)

2 Weeks...

Our little Ella is 2 weeks old today...it's amazing how that last stretch of my pregnancy is already becoming a distant memory. She has been a really good baby thus far. She's starting to sleep 5-6 hours at night, which is GREAT for me! Now if we could just get Lauren back to sleeping through the night without wanting to climb into bed with us we'd be doing really well. :) I'll have to wait and report on her height/weight later, it was snowing like crazy this afternoon when I was supposed to be heading to her appointment, then cleared up after I'd already called and cancelled. Such is my life :) Garrett still asks to hold her every chance he gets, and Lauren pats her on the head and gives her kisses whenever she can. They both are her little babysitters, making sure I know she's crying or needs a diaper change or anything else she might do. One thing is for sure...she's one LOVED baby :)

Christmas!!!

I am so sad Christmas is over...I love this time of year and having Ella so close to Christmas just made it all go by so much quicker, but she's the best Christmas present ever! :) We did our usual back and forth thing this year, spending Christmas Eve at my Grandma's house with the Cole side, coming home that night and spending Christmas morning with Todd's family, then back to my mom's Christmas night for the Cox get together. It's a lot of driving, especially when the roads aren't that great, but my favorite part of any holiday is having the opportunity to be with our families. The kids really had a TON of fun opening their presents at their Grandma's house on Christmas morning. Garrett's favorite gift was definitely his Spiderman and "Spiderman house", his scooter runs a close second. Lauren ended up getting three dolls and all the accessories (stroller, bassinet, carseat, etc.) and plays with them way more than I even thought she would. We keep finding her in her room playing "mommy"...it's seriously TOO CUTE! Ella fell asleep in her carseat on the way to Todd's parent's house on Christmas morning and slept all the way through opening presents...I didn't think to get a picture of her at the time. :(

After every gift Garrett opened he'd say..."It's just what I wanted!"

Lauren opening her new Dora movie...we've seen it way too many times already!

Daddy and Garrett playing with "Spiderman's house".

Daddy pushing Lauren on Garrett's new scooter. She LOVED it!

1 Week Old

Wow! Ella is already a week old! In some ways I can't believe it's already been a week, and in other ways it seems like she's been with us forever. Lauren has warmed up to her considerably, and is constantly pointing at and naming her "eyes, nose, ears, etc." Garrett would like to hold her all day, every day if he could. Unfortunately, this weekend the kids came down with the stomach flu and had to stay as far away as possible. Let me tell you, it's not fun taking care of two puking kids along with a newborn! Thank goodness Todd was home and kept us up on laundry as well as sharing in the clean up duties!

I also had to share this picture, even thought the quality is terrible. I don't care what anyone says...this was a real smile, and she did it several times though this was the only shot I got. :)

Photo Tag

I was tagged by Brenda.

I was to post the 4th photo of my 4th folder in My Pictures.

This is Garrett with his demolished "Gingerbread house" at my grandma's house on Christmas Eve a couple of years ago. Kind of funny that it fits for this time of year!

I tag Heather A., Chelsea, and Cassie. :)

Our Pringles Girl

Lauren LOVES "ships". Every time I buy them and she's at the store with me she's trying to get the can of Pringles open before I can even get it in the cart. This afternoon she just would not go down for a nap even though she was sooo tired! I finally sat down at the computer and she came in a couple of minutes later. I heard her climb on the bed and grab the can of Pringles Todd had left on the dresser next to the bed and she was munching away. Next thing I hear sounds like the can tipping on it's side but I didn't think much of it.....here's what I saw when I finally turned around :)And guess what the first thing she did when she woke up was...

Here's a new and close up picture of Ella...just for you Chels :) I'll post more soon! I promise!

Meet Ella Rose....

Our little Ella Rose was born last night at 8:32 p.m. She weighed 7 lb 11 1/2 oz and is 19 inches long. She has some hair which is brown with a reddish tint like Lauren's.

Now that we have the most important info out of the way...here is how it happened. I woke up yesterday morning at 4:30 having contractions, they were really inconsistent as far as strength and timing so I knew it wasn't real labor, but was hoping it would at least turn into that. At about 8:00, right when they were getting to be about 5 minutes apart, they stopped. I was scheduled at my doctor's office for a non-stress test (where they monitor the baby for a while to make sure everything is OK) at 10:30. I had to see another doctor since Dr. Nye had the day off. She came in and told me everything was looking great and asked if Dr. Nye had talked about induction. I told her we hadn't really talked about it at that point. She asked if I'd be open to the idea since she had just spoken to the hospital and they were asking if she had any patients wanting to be induced since they were really slow. She told me she'd try to contact Dr. Nye and have him call me to let me know what to do. On the way home I stopped for a few things at Walmart and there was Dr. Nye! I caught up to him and told him what Dr. Thompson had said so he got on the phone to call the hospital. He couldn't get through to anyone, but it sounded like he didn't really want to do it that day anyway. As I was leaving Walmart he called me and told me he'd gotten through to the hospital and they couldn't induce me until Thursday. I was heartbroken to say the least. I cried the whole way home. Part of me thought that Dr. Nye just didn't want to do it that day (and I'm pretty sure I was right). I found out later that they had gotten really busy after they'd talked to Dr. Thompson and they really couldn't schedule it that day.

That afternoon at about 3:00 I started having contractions again, only this time they were every ten minutes and definitely stronger than before. The only problem was, three hours later they were still ten minutes apart. They finally got to seven minutes apart and Todd talked me into heading to the hospital (after I called them to find out if that was in fact what we should do). We dropped the kids off at his parent's house and headed over. By the time we got to Labor and Delivery it was 7:45. They checked me and I was at 8 cm and almost fully effaced!!! I've never been past a 4 once I got to the hospital so I was shocked. Then they asked me if I had planned on having an epidural and LAUGHED when I said yes! There was no time and THANK GOODNESS for that because I was freaking out knowing I was going to have to push this baby out with NO PAIN MEDS! Dr. Nye arrived quickly and broke my water, then I started pushing and Ella Rose was born at 8:32. I am still in shock over how quickly it all went once we got to the hospital and how great I already feel. My mom was able to make it just before I started pushing and I was so glad to have her there. I just have to tease her though. As the doctor was finishing up with me after the baby was born, Mom was standing at the bed side and said she was about to pass out. Dr. Nye started yelling for someone to help her to the floor. They sat her on the floor with some pillows and after a few minutes she was fine. I'm so glad she didn't go down before someone could get to her!

We headed home late this afternoon and stopped to pick up the kids and introduce them and Grandma and Grandpa to Ella. Garrett was so excited, but Lauren was a little apprehensive (she'd just woken up from a nap) at first. They have both been watching her every move since we got home and I can already tell I'm going to have to keep a close eye on them. :)

BABY it's COLD outside!

So here we are...40 minutes from now I'll be officially 5 days overdue. Seriously, I don't know why I even let myself think I was going to go on or near my due date...I guess I was hoping this one would be different. I was 3 days over with Garrett and 5 with Lauren. Hopefully we'll stay within a week this time around too. I really can't blame the kid, I wouldn't want to be born when it's 9 degrees outside either! I'm a summer girl myself! I think the hardest part for me hasn't been physical, although my hips feel like they want to give out on me half the time. The most difficult part has been my emotional state the last couple of weeks. One minute I'll be fine, and the next I'll be freaking out because I want the house clean before I go into labor, therefore crossing my fingers I'll come home to a clean house (wishful thinking?). My kids have taken it all in stride, as has Todd. I know it must take every ounce of energy he has to keep from making "she's hormonal" comments! He did mention yesterday that he noticed this pregnancy has been "a lot harder" on me than my others. As grouchy as I've been with him lately, I really appreciate his tactfullness...is that a word? Gotta love him :)

I have been having contractions, although they are not very consistent. I guess I'm just thankful that's a sign of something happening. I have a non-stress test tomorrow just to make sure the baby is still doing fine, but won't actually be seeing my doctor until THURSDAY! He really thought he'd see me go into labor last weekend, then expected to see me that night after my last appointment. Can you tell he's a little more hopeful than I am?! I am truly praying (as I'm sure my husband is) that she will come soon, but more importantly that everything goes well and she is healthy! Wish me luck!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy ToDd!

Happy Birthday honey! I don't even know how to begin to tell you how much I love and appreciate you. You do so much for us as a husband, daddy, and provider. Every time I see you playing with the kids it just reminds me what an amazing father you are. The most exciting time of the day for them is when you walk through that door. Mine too :) Garrett is so proud to have you as his dad...I'm sure the firefighting gives that pride an extra boost! We love you so much and hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Playing catch up....no baby yet!

Just to get that out of the way...no we haven't met the newest member of our family just yet. I am seeing the signs of things starting to happen though, so I'm still hoping to have this baby before Christmas, at least!

This week has been quite busy...I thought that being released from Young Women's would help slow things down a bit, but that hasn't been the case. Nothing like preparing for a baby to keep you busy!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner last week with Todd's family. All of the grandkids had a GREAT time seeing eachother and Garrett keeps telling me that he wants to go on an airplane to see Brynlee and Kam...soon! We got pictures of all the kids with Great Grandpa Al and Great Grandma PJ, but mine didn't turn out very well. I did get a good one of all the kids with Velvet.

Last night we had our ward Christmas party. I'm glad we went...although the program went a little long for the kids...they just didn't want to sit there anymore! The primary did a quick rendition of the nativity scene. Garrett went up there for a bit and was standing by the angels, but didn't have a halo like the rest of them so I'm not quite sure where/what he was supposed to be doing...they were on the end of the stage and Garrett kept creeping closer and closer to the side until he was out of sight. Someone must have talked him into going back out there, but that only lasted for a second and he was gone again. Next thing I know he was running back to our seats and in Todd's lap. Maybe someday he'll surprise us and come out of his shell a little. I figured it couldn't be any worse than the boy who was standing next to him acting like 007 or something. He kept jumping from behind the curtain with "guns drawn". It was quite entertaining for those who could see him. The highlight of the night was of course Santa Claus! Garrett was so excited and sat on Santa's lap with no hesitation...Lauren was a different story. Oh well....there's always next year!

Well that's the major stuff that's gone on this week in our little world...hopefully my next post will contain some BIG NEWS! :)