Merry Christmas 2014!

Have a Very Merry Christmas!

3 Month Chunk

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Christian at 1 Month

Babies at this age crack me up. They are more alert, but still not very responsive or expressive! Once in a while we can coax a smile out of Christian, but most of the time he has a pretty passive look on his face! Christian is 1 month old today! He is getting chubbier, but is not as chunky as I expected my 10-pounder to be. He has almost grown out of all of his 0-3 month clothes, mostly due to how long he is. He is quite the spitter-upper too. I have finally started just having him wear a little bib most of the day because it drives me nuts to have him barfing down his front every five minutes. We won't even mention how I feel about him barfing down MY front...  Dallin was lucky enough to be initiated today when Christian plastered him pretty well. I told Dallin he was a real man now!

Here's Christian and his not-so-broad range of emotions:

Mildly Interested

 Slightly Puzzled

Somewhat Disapproving

But Definitely A Cutie!

 

We Love This Little Guy!

1 Week Old

It really is deplorable how bad I am at pulling the camera out and taking pictures. There really is no excuse, especially for someone with a super-nice camera! I finally forced myself to take some "nice" pictures of Christian. I knew I would regret it if I didn't take any during his first week. Here he is at five days old. Newborn perfection!

 

 

 

BEST. DAY. EVER.

Today has been one of those surreal experiences that has left me pinching myself and asking, "Is this really happening?!" There are some dreams in life that just seem so distant, I wonder how this one can be coming true for us. This is our family blog, so I am posting about this to mark this monumental occasion in our family history. I don't at all mean to boast or brag, though I feel so thrilled about it that I could shout it from the rooftops! God has been so incredibly good to us!

We Paid Off Our House Today!

We are absolutely free from any and all debt! I am so grateful for how far we've come. I think it's worth telling about our journey, for posterity's sake. When we were first married we had each been brought up by frugal parents, but had yet to gain much experience and wisdom ourselves when it came to matters of money. We made plenty of mistakes those first few years including not saving, not budgeting, and purchasing a certain $1300 sofa. {cringe} Thankfully we didn't do anything too stupid and were smart enough to stay far away from credit cards! After college we settled here in Boise and promptly bought 5 acres of land up the mountain upon which we planned to build our dream home. Of course, we couldn't afford to build our dream home at that point, so we bought a certain modest 4-bedroom, 1900 sq. ft. home on Orbit Drive. Hindsight being what it is, we realize now how impractical our acreage purchase was, but, oh how grateful I am that the Lord allowed us to make that mistake! If we hadn't we surely would have qualified to purchase a much bigger home somewhere. It's been many years since we sold that property, and we probably lost a fair amount of money on the whole thing, but through it the Lord brought us here.

Some years and 4 kids later, at the beginning of 2009 to be exact, we bought another house. The country was in a recession and this house was collateral damage. It was a 5-bedroom, 3400 sq. ft., one acre property that had been foreclosed on. Anticipating that we'd definitely be adding to our family, and that we'd never have another chance like it, we took the plunge. We prayed about it, felt good about it, and we did it. One year later our home on Orbit Drive still hadn't sold and, after some promptings that we felt and many long discussions on what we really wanted in life, we put the big house in our rear view mirror and settled back into our first home. It would be another year before the big house sold, and with the economy in even worse shape, we lost a lot of money on the sale. After living for two years with two homes, we were left with basically nothing in our savings. But again, God had taught us so much through this experience! It was during this time that Dave Ramsey and his principles of money management entered our lives. We really defined what kind of stewards we wanted to be over our temporal blessings and how we wanted to go about achieving our long-term goals. We had tried and tried for years to manage our finances and establish a budget, and those efforts were not completely meaningless or unfruitful. But I think it was through this experience of moving back and doing what we felt was right for us, despite how irrational or financially unwise it way have seemed to others, that the Lord was really able to start changing our hearts. He needed us here! We haven't been perfect, but our goals and desires have always been centered on our faith and our family. Far beyond our own abilities and effort, the Lord has magnified our willingness and blessed us so much.

As soon as we sold the big house we completely made-over our budget. We created a better tracking and budgeting system. We built up short and long term savings. We established more savings for retirement and for each of our kids. Every month we hacked away at our mortgage by paying triple payments. And the Lord filled in all the gaps, of which there have probably been many. Honestly, as I review my own efforts I feel conflicted! I feel so proud of myself for how far I've come. Truly, the Lord has made my weaknesses in money management into strengths. But I also recognize that my heart isn't always perfect. Sometimes I fudge the budget to make it work. Sometimes I covet things that I don't have. Sometimes I am not as content or grateful for my blessings as I ought to be. But, for whatever reason, the Lord has chosen to bless me despite my many imperfections. (Here I would venture to say that the good heart and righteous living of that husband of mine have garnered the majority of the blessings we have received! He is a rock.)

As much effort and progress as we have made trying to pay off this house, it would still have taken a few more years if not for some good fortune (read: divine intervention). Brett has been receiving stock options from Micron for years. Recently Micron has begun to do pretty well again and the stock price reached a point where we could sell what we had and pay off what remained of our mortgage. So that's what we did! And after impatiently waiting for checks and mortgage-payoff quotes to arrive, today we packed up the whole family and went to the bank together to send a wire transfer to our mortgage company. We paid off our house!

Our Family at the Bank - We Did It!

We've had several people ask us lately if we plan on staying in our "little" home, now that we have 7 children. My answer without hesitation is, "You Bet!! We love it here!"

It's All About Family!

Big, Beautiful Birthday

It's true. Good things come to those who wait.

Christian Vance Dodds

Born April 28th, 2014 - 9:46pm

In many ways, this has been the longest 9 months of my life! With the baby measuring big, the last couple of months were a lot more difficult than any of my previous pregnancies. We also anticipated that baby would arrive a little early, due to his size, and therefore spent the last three weeks of pregnancy expecting that any day would be "the day." But this was not to be so. Although I had not wanted to induce labor, during the last week I felt more open and peaceful about it. So at my last Dr. appointment we made arrangements to be induced on Monday, the day after my due date. And I am so grateful that we made that decision!

Monday morning we arrived at the hospital at 7:00am. Our wonderful neighbor Stephanie would be helping out with the kids during the day. We were hopeful that we'd have a baby for the kids to come and see by the time they got out of school! But true to this entire experience, we had to really endure to the end. Labor was induced and progressed very slowly. I got my epidural. At noon my Dr. came to break my water, but I hadn't progressed enough to do so. Every time they tried to turn the Pitocin up to speed things along, baby wouldn't react well and there'd be a slight panic as we tried to bring his heart rate back up. Slowly, slowly, slowly we made progress. Finally, at around 8:30pm, my Dr. came to check me and I was dilated fully and finally ready to start pushing. Of course, I had just insisted that Brett go get something to eat, so he wasn't there! But as soon as he got back we were set up and ready to go.

Even this stage of labor was slow and perhaps the ultimate experience in enduring to the end. With every push, baby descended just a little. Early on baby's heart-rate dropped, so in between pushes I put on an oxygen mask and breathed deeply. With every push I felt more pressure and intensity and I focused on relaxing between pushes. Little did I know that the pressure I was feeling was as much a sign that baby was getting closer, as it was an indication that my epidural was wearing off! After about 45 minutes of pushing, the experience had become very intense. Each contraction and series of pushes brought me to the end of my pain endurance and I was praying fervently for strength and relief. The last 5 minutes were a blur. I lost myself in the pain and could only focus on pushing with everything I had. I was barely aware of the sudden chaos around me. A nurse calling out "one minute" signaled the time since baby had gone into serious distress. I felt the urgency to get him out. I was vaguely aware that a nurse had taken over for Brett and was not just holding my right leg, but pushing it towards me giving me more leverage to push. As my Dr. worked to pull baby out, another Dr. was actually pushing him with her hands on my belly. Baby's head came out sideways and then his shoulders stuck. My Dr. had to maneuver them out one at a time and finally, after the most intense pain of my life, he arrived. He, and I, were delivered.

Calm descended only after baby's cord, which had been wrapped tightly once around his neck, was cut swiftly by the Doctor - after the throng of nurses rushed him to the warming bed to suction his mouth and rub him until that sweetest of sounds came across the room and my baby boy squawked, announcing his presence in mortality. And he was perfect. Healthy. 

The moment he was born, I fell back in exhaustion unable to move or even open my eyes. Then Brett was back by my side and he held me as I cried, the emotion of all the pain and effort washing out of me. The last stretch of waiting was for my strength to return, and the pain to subside enough to finally hold my baby boy. It was at this point I realized that I could feel my legs and that my epidural had worn off! As my doctor finished repairing the damage, I finally turned my attention to the little person lying in the bassinet. A nurse lifted him out to weigh him. The scale was on a cart behind the long curtain by the door. As she placed him on the scale we couldn't see him, but we heard the nurse say, "Oh my." Without another word, she drew back the curtain to reveal his weight. 10 pounds 1.6 ounces glowed in blue and suddenly I felt like Super Woman.

It was such a joy to finally hold my not-so-tiny but ever-so-newborn baby. Christian. I breathed the name over him and he was real in my arms. I snuggled him and nursed him and caressed his long feet. And we discovered with delight that he had blonde hair! The wait was over and a void we hadn't even recognized had been filled.

Our poor kids! They were SO excited for us to go and have the baby, and then he didn't arrive until after they'd all gone to bed! You can bet they were at the hospital bright and early the next moring to come and see him. It was a joy for me to watch my children all file in with such anticipation to see the newest addition to our family. Even Beckham was thrilled to see his new little brother!

 

 

 

 

 Proud Papa and Mama - of Seven!!

We were grateful that everything came together by evening and we were able to go home. I had brought a "going home" outfit for Christian, but it was newborn sized and he certainly wasn't! We squeezed him into it anyway. Christian measured 22 1/2 inches long, so not only are the newborn clothes out of the question, but the 0-3 month outfits only just fit him!

Mr. Baby Ready to Go Home! 

Sleeping in my own bed was divine - well, when I was sleeping anyway! Grandma Furr came up and will spend several days with us. It's always such a blessing when she comes, but particularly this time when I am expecting a much slower recovery.

 Welcome to Our Family Christian!

Tulips at the Temple

Every Spring there is that magical time when the flowers are blooming and the Boise Temple grounds just explode with color! I just had to make sure we took the family there before this baby arrives!

The new fountain at the temple is really lovely!

Jameson, Dallin, Dicie, and Avery enjoying the fountain.

Jameson loves to comb his own hair and he's recently started creating some very original looks!

♥Brett♥ and Dicie

Mia

All the Munchkins!

Being at the temple with our family, even just outside on a Saturday enjoying the grounds, was such a peaceful and joyful experience! I definitely felt the Spirit while we were there.

Dicie, Avery, and Me

My Sweetheart and Me - just a week shy of our 14th anniversary (and the due date of our 7th baby)!

This time my belly is the biggest it has ever been, and not without reason! This little guy is going to be big! At my ultrasound this week he measured 8 lb. 10 oz, and I wasn't dilated at all, so we're guessing he'll be a hefty 9-pounder. He doesn't seem too eager to enter the world yet!