Holding it Together

I have to admit that this first week having Eli home has been fairly smooth. Taylor has been out of town hunting since Friday morning, but I think I am holding it together pretty good. He came home on Sunday to see the kids and get a home-cooked meal and then he headed back out. Having my mom here to help with the other kids has made my job easier. My parents had to leave this morning and I don't get my husband back until Wednesday so we will see what the next couple of days hold for me.

Trunk or Treat

Friday night was the annual trunk or treat with our ward. I was debating whether or not I should go and take the baby, but then my guilt got the best of me. I would have felt like a horrible mother if I made my kids miss it. We all had a great time and the kids got lots of candy. Oh, by the way, Cody did have a Sully (the guy from Monsters inc.) costume to wear but he threw a fit and would not wear it so he ended up being a baseball player. Gotta love 2 year olds!!

Pumpkin Carving

Last Wednesday we carved pumpkins with the kids. Natalie was the only one who dug right in pulling out all of the seeds and "guts" as she calls it. Thank you to my mom and Taylor for being brave enought to tackle this task with the children!!

At Home Update

Well, we have been home from the hospital now for 2 days and I already have cabin fever. Taylor has been amazing though. I have just been focusing on me and the baby and Taylor has handled everything else. What a stud!! The kids are bouncing off the walls with energy and of course dad and I are exhausted!! Baby Eli is doing great. All he has to do is eat, sleep, and poop!! What a life!! I can't wait for my mom to get here tomorrow to help keep the kids entertained.

New Baby

We welcomed our sweet baby boy into the world on Thursday morning the 18th. He weighed in at 6 lbs. 2 oz. and was 19 in. long. I woke up Wednesday morning not really feeling well and having contractions but they were very inconsistant and started out not very painful. By early afternoon the contractions were still inconsistant but the pain was increasing. I finally got so uncomfortable that I called my doctor. Well the on-call doctor called me back and told me not to go into the hospital until the contractions were 5 minutes apart. I tried to ignore the pain but by late night I could not handle it anymore. I called the doctor back and told him we were headed to the hospital to at least get checked out and see what was going on. Taylor and I raced out of the house at midnight. We got to the hospital in record timing....plowing through red lights and not stopping for anything. The nurses checked me when I got there and they said I was dilated to 8 centimeters!!! At this point I was in the most pain I had ever felt before. Taylor and I both asked for an epidural but there was no time. Literally 2 seconds later I could feel the baby coming. They rushed me down the hall to the labor and delivery room where 3 other nurses were waiting for me. They did not even have time to put gloves on and the doctor was not in the room and all of a sudden I had the urge to push. And seriously out flew baby Eli. The doctor came in right in time to catch him. From the time I checked in at the front desk to the time Eli was born was exactly 13 minutes. Thank goodness Taylor did not have to deliver him in the truck!!
I never thought I would say this but I am so grateful to not be pregnant anymore. It sure took a toll on my body!! Having a newborn brings on a whole new set of challenges but I am sooo ready.

My Life

Ok, so I have been horrible about posting lately. Life has been crazy busy and believe it or not the last thing I want to do is get on the computer and download pictures. A lot has gone on I just have not had the motivation to post it.
I do need to vent a little about what I have been feeling lately. I feel tired, fat, unable to manuever, overwhelmed and completely anxious. My life is about to change with this next baby and I am not sure how I am going to handle it. Sure, I already have 3 kids what is one more.....are you kidding? I am totally outnumbered now and I definitely don't have time to be tired. I hope that I can hold my life together and move gracefully into the next phase of my life. Wish me luck.

Trip to Arizona

This last weekend we drove to AZ for Taylor's sisters wedding. If it were any other circumstance I would not have put my 37 week pregnant body into a car with 3 children for 6 hours, but we had to do it for family!! Natasha's wedding day was the same day as Natalie's 5th birthday. Natasha was so concerned that Natalie not feel forgotten that she made a birthday cake for her and put it on display at the reception right next to the REAL wedding cake. Natalie felt life a true princess that day...she probably did not even realize that a wedding was going on!!

Grandpa's Game

My dad came up with a cute game/challenge to play with Cooper and I just had to take pictures of it. My dad was chipping golf balls into Cooper's direction and he was to catch them and put them into the bucket. If he could do it 3 times in a row with out missing then he could have a cookie. I thought this game would be done very quickly but soon realized it is not as easy as it looks. Cooper would get two in a row and then miss on the third. He was getting very frustrated especially since the whole family was out there watching. Eventually he did it and got his cookie.