Oma's

While Mommy was at home, trying to sleep and cuddle her cute little baby, Daddy was a saint and took the big kids to Oma's pumpkin patch to let them get out of awhile. Baby or no baby, you can't have Halloween without a pumpkin!

 It's fun to see what good friends these two are, especially the older and older they get!

 Getting taller. I'm starting to think that we are not too far from the day that Makenna will no longer be our tallest child. She better enjoy it while it lasts.

 Sledding down the cotton seed hill.

 And milking cows. All of this was done in close to 95 degree weather!

 Finding their way through the hay bale maze.

 Kellen attempting to camouflage in with the pumpkins. Never known anyone to love orange as much as this cute little boy.

 And, though I was not there, I imagine this was one of the highlights for our kiddos. Ropin' cattle! I have been asked on more than one occasion to either make or purchase the kids a real lasso. Such requests have not been answered, for very obvious reasons....

Just Can't Get Enough

 If this is not sibling love, then I don't know what is.

 Carys and Baby Evia....Carys' "twin". A friend of our Janae was pregnant at the same time as me....due about 10 days before me. When I found out I was being induced I sent Janae a text to tell her I was having the baby that day. Within a few hours Janae was in full on labor and ended up having Evia on the 16th, just a few hours before Carys was born. So yes, they share the same birthday. Seems so odd to me, seeing that Conner was born on the same day as Carter Nelson. Apparently my kids like to share birthdays with their friends. Here are the girls just a couple of days old (Evia was obviously bigger at birth)

 Carys' first sponge bath at home. She hated it!

 Sweet little Brooke is obsessed with little Carys. She wants to hold her all the time. It is not often that you see a 3 year old that is willing to fore go playing with her cousins so she can hold a baby. 

 Very protective big brothers, already.

 Once again....Love.

Welcome Home....Happy Birthday

 These crazy women that say they love to stay in the hospital as long as they can...I think they are crazy. I want to get home asap. This time around we were required to stay for 24 hours. Well, she was born at 7:36pm on the 16th...we were home around 8:15pm on the 17th. Plus, we had some pretty eager older siblings that couldn't wait to get their hands back on that baby!

 Grammy and the kids were so cute and decorated the house with balloons and streamers and signs to welcome baby Carys. It was one of those things that made a postpartum mama want to cry tears of joy. It was so cute and sweet. 

 Makenna making sure to stake her claim as Daddy's oldest daughter. Perhaps she knows she has a little competition now...;)

 It's tradition in our family to have a little "birthday party" when we bring home a new baby. Both to celebrate the new addition, as well as give the kids the chance to do something fun for them to be happy about their new baby joining the family. 

Happy Birthday little Carys. We love you!

I Never Knew...

...how much love my heart could hold until someone called me Mom.

There is something magical about those first hours and days with your baby. Theoretically you should be completely exhausted. But instead, you are too in love to be exhausted. The same way you stay up all night with your boyfriend, whispering on the phone into the wee hours of the morning, knowing that you will be tired and paying for it the next day...you just can't bring yourself to say goodbye and hang up the phone. Its the same with your brand new baby. As tired and drained as you may be you just want to keep staring at, touching, holding, kissing, smelling the sweet bundle in your arms. You memorize every inch of their body....their toes, their fingers, their ears, lips, nose, eyes. Though they sleep, and you should too, instead you sit and watch them sleep. And even when your body forces you to sleep, you hold her in your arms next to the warmth of your chest and sleep that way. Because having her in the small bassinet right next to your bed just seems to far away to handle. Well, maybe it is not like this for everyone. But it is how if feels for me. Almost like Mommy's version of separation anxiety. 

My doctor kept telling me she could see hair on the babies head when she would do her ultrasounds. But I don't think I really believe her because I was totally shocked when she came out with such a head of hair. She easily has more hair than the rest of our babies when they were born...combined. 

The reality of 4 kids for the first time. Conner was too in love to take his eyes of her, even for a moment.

Straight from heaven.

Makenna is sooooo happy to have a sister! And I am sooo happy that she has a sister. When you have a sister that means the world to you, you pray that your daughter will have the chance to have that same kind of relationship.

Kellen was just as perfect and sweet and gentle with her as I expected him to be. He has a very naturally loving and caring personality to him. I knew that now, being 4 and having even more maturity, that he would be a great big brother to his little sis. I know I will not be disappointed!

You know she is tiny when a newborn outfit and newborn beanie are Huge on her and the chest buckle is wider than her body. Such a little peanut.

Carys Elizabeth

The whole time you are pregnant you wonder to yourself, "how will this story go?" You wonder what the birth of your baby will be like. You hope that it goes exactly the way you have planned. You worry about the complications and things that could potentially go wrong. So the moment when you get to sit down with your baby snuggled up to your chest and look back on and write the story of their birth, well, it's a special moment.

I went into the hospital around 9 in the morning on October 16th for my usual Tuesday nst (non stress test). I had done everything in my power all weekend to Not take it easy with hopes that my amniotic fluid would be low enough to merit a trip to labor and delivery. Not because I was impatient and sick of being prego and ready to have a baby. Rather because I felt like I could not go another day worrying and stressing that something was going wrong with my baby to make her have the heart decelerations she had been experiencing and worrying day after day what would happen if something serious went wrong that they missed. I couldn't take it. I needed this baby out of me. I needed to hold her and feel her and see her and know that she was okay.

So after monitoring her heart rate (which looked great) they measured the fluid. Well, apparently I did my job well. Anything under a 5.0 wins you a trip to L&D. I was measuring between a 2-3!! I was having a baby! (Relief, relief, relief!)

So I make a million phone calls to make sure Todd is leaving work, Grammy is leaving work, Sarah is finding a sitter to come down, I have people to pick up all my kids and watch them until the baby is born, etc.

It was around 12:00 when they finally had me settled in and hooked up to the pitocin and got things started. We all placed bets on how long the process would take. I was already about 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. We talked about potential middle names for little baby Carys (Daddy was the one choosing her middle name since Mama put her foot down and did not allow negotiations on her first name). The leading contender were Alexandra, Elizabeth and something I am suddenly forgetting. We looked up famous people born on October 16th. We played name that tune and laughed our heads off at Grammy trying to sing all the different songs, occasionally busting out a little dance move here or there. Overall, it was quite a party!

(Daddy sporting his beard! He was very proud to have a full beard at the birth of his daughter, so that it could be recorded and remembered forever!)

Around 4:00 they broke my water and I had them give me the epidural at the same time. I believe I was somewhere around 3 or so cm at that point. I told the nurse, Lisa (who was amazing and hilarious and a perfect nurse for our group) that I normally take awhile to get to a 5 and then go super fast from there. 

Sure enough I was spot on. It took until 6:30-6:40 for me to get to 5 cm. But this time I was at an 8 within 20 minutes of that. The nurse came in and started prepping and checking me throughout. Every 5 minutes or so I was another cm dilated. When they were ready they checked me and said babies head was right there. It happened so fast and so relaxed that it was almost hard to take in the fact that I was really just about to have a baby.

The nurse told me to push and I asked her if she was sure (I am known to push babies out fast!). She said yes and so I started to push. And I swear, I had only half pushed when everyone starts saying "Okay stop, stop!" Her head was half way out (yes, I did sort of want to pat myself on the back!) and the doctor said they were just going to let her slide the rest of the way out. She had the cord wrapped around her neck once (probably the explanation for the heart decelerations). And then suddenly, there she was. Little Cary slipped out into the world at 7:36 pm. The moment I heard her cry and saw her little arms and legs flailing around, it was a rush of relief and joy and love just completely overwhelming me. My eyes welled up with tears and words truly failed me. The moment was too perfect. No words could do the moment justice. She was perfect.

 I absolutely love this picture. The very first time I touched my sweet baby.

 Daddy cutting the cord....quite a pro at this by now. 

 Our first family picture. Is that beard not looking great or what?!

 And there she was....our sweet little angel. Our darling baby Carys. Shortly after she was born I asked Todd if he knew her middle name. And without hesitation he said he knew- Carys Elizabeth. It was perfect, just like her.

 Our tiny little baby, weighing only 6 lbs 11 oz. I Never thought I would get such a tiny baby. It was something quite fun to hold someone so tiny.

 Daddy's first time holding his daughter. There is something magical about the love a father has for his baby girl.

 So glad Auntie Rah Rah could be there for this moment as well. 

Grammy with her newest Grandbaby. And possibly the last one she will ever get to See be born. It's a moment that compares to no other moment in life. And yes, it was perfect.