Elise's Blessing.

Elise got blessed this past Sunday. It was a very spiritual moment. I loved it! Babies are just so innocent and so close to the Lord, it's amazing (yet a little creepy) to see them look at random spots in the house and know they are looking at someone close to them either dead or not yet born.

Elise is growing so fast, and developing far beyond her age.

• She was smiling at a month old
• She laughed at a month old
• She has been trying her hardest since she was 2 months old to roll over on her back
• She said "mama" since 2 months (only when she is really hungry)
  
• She started playing...really playing with her toys at 1 month old
• She can talk your ear off, and with those facial expressions, it really seems like she's telling you all about her day
• She already plays with her hands and feet

Having a baby in the house makes everyone's day brighter. There's just something about having a sweet spirit so fresh from heaven in your home. I love every moment of it :o)

Some new pictures.

Unfortunately Gabriel was at school that day, but this awesome girl in my ward is a photographer. She offered to show me some tricks with lighting, and she wanted to take pics of Elise. I walked away with some great pictures and a new appreciation for photography! I can't wait to start working with her!

A new, healthier way of living!

We have always wanted to buy one of these awesome blenders, but never had the resources to do so. We are big into eating organic, all natural foods, trying to eliminate as much processed foods out of our diets as possible.
Lately, Mat has been having horrible, painful heartburn that won't go away with tums. He has an appointment with a doctor soon. He thinks a lot of what he has been eating has been contributing to his heartburn. So, we went online and ordered this beauty!

If you don't know a lot about the vitamix, let me give you a brief summary:
It makes soups (yes, it spins THAT fast so the food gets hot enough)
It makes ice cream (yup....ice cream)
It makes dough (then put it in a pan and make bread)
It makes cake batter
It grinds grains into powder
It makes any type of food you want!
You can eat 3 times a day using this vitamix!
It makes applesauce (you just cut the apples and put it straight into the mixer...seeds, stem and all)

That's just a few things it does! I can't wait to use this thing! I can't wait to get back on track with health!

Happy Halloween!

♥

I love my kids! I feel so blessed to have them in my life!

This makes me laugh and smile when ever I see this picture! I love her smiles!

She's here!!

After waiting 40 weeks and 1 day, Elise Tiffany came into this world at 3:47am weighing a healthy 9lbs. 5oz. 21 in long. Whew!

It seems like I was in labor forever, but really, I was in hard labor for only 5 hours!
I had been having BH contractions for weeks, totally inconsistent. A week before she was born, those BH contractions started to get more frequent throughout the day. Matt's family and me were joking that I'd go into labor on Labor Day (seems fitting), but alas, no labor, BUT I was in a lot of pain, more so then lately. I had a feeling I was going to have her with in days.
Tuesday morning I woke up having the strong urge to pee, and it felt like I wet myself, it wasn't until I went to the bathroom that I saw I was starting to lose my mucus plug! I was beyond thrilled! I woke Matt up and told him we were having this baby with in 24 hours.
I got mostly everything ready for the arrival (as much as I could, I was having contractions all throughout the day, I'm grateful Matt did a lot of the work like laundry and taking care of the kids).
It wasn't until 6:20pm that those contractions kicked it up a notch. I started timing them, and sure enough, I was having consistent contractions every 10 min, contractions that got stronger by the hour.
I told Matt it was time to go. We got everything ready and had Matt's sister Melissa come over to watch the kids since everyone in the house was gone!
You know, I had this vision in my head that I'd be screaming bloody murder the whole way to the hospital, and dreaded going since it was 45 min away! On a scale from 1-10 my pain was at a 4-5. I got to the hospital, got checked in and honestly thought I'd be 2-3 cm dilated......wrong! I was 5 cm dilated!! I was shocked to say the least! That's when I knew it wasn't going to be a bad experience after all....I could do this!
I got hooked up to the IV and they brought me to the birthing room (very nice might I add). I had a darn intern as my doctor. I wouldn't mind an intern, if only they knew what they were talking about and doing! He would say something and the nurses would have to correct him. He just wasn't warm and welcoming. When your in labor and want to kill the world, you want someone to understand, especially your doctor. I told him I wanted to wait the pain out and see how long I could last with out an epidural...he gave me a smug look like "I don't know if that's a good option...". Yeah, well, at 7 cm I couldn't take the pain any longer and asked for an epidural (which of course he had a great comment for that one).
From then on, things progressed pretty fast! I was at a 7 for a while but still had this urge to push (you know, that uncontrollable feeling). My cervix wasn't quiet yet open on my right side, so I laid on my right side for a while. I was told by everyone to not push (really...I HATE that), but of course, when you have no control, you do what your body says. I started pushing....at 7 cm.
Because of the pushing I went from a 7 to a 9 pretty fast. It was at that point where I was crying because of the pain and told Matt that this baby was coming now, I could feel her head coming out. The doctor and nurses came to check on me and sure enough, she was crowning. It took only 2 pushes to push her out.


I was completely in shock when she came out. She looked big, but I didn't know she would be 9 lbs! It was then that I had to give myself a pat on the back for pushing out a 9 lb baby with only 2 pushes, and I only tore a tiny bit! It would have been a bigger pat on the back if I would have done it with out any meds ;o) I honestly don't know how women do it without meds....totally respect for you moms out there who did it all natural!

I feel so blessed to have her in my life! My family feels complete.

I also can't forget to mention how wonderful Matt was during this whole process. He helped me any way he could, even having his fingers almost break because of all the pain I was going through. I love that man more and more, every day.

And so it begins...

I've been having BH Contractions consistently for a few weeks now. Yesterday everything hit a high point in it all. The contractions were a bit stronger and more consistent and it felt like she was in my hips.

I woke up this morning feeling like I had peed my pants and when I went to the bathroom, I noticed I was starting to lose my mucus plus!! Since this discovery my contractions have been pretty strong, not that strong yet, but none the less, uncomfortable!!

If things go as last time with Tristan, I will have this baby within 24 hours. I'll probably start hard labor later today....maybe early evening? I'm nervous as anything, but so excited to actually hold this girl instead of having her inside me :o)

Wish me luck!