December Randomness

The trouble maker! Looks like flour was the preferred substance that time.

The last picture taken of my pregnancy.... 37 weeks. (Eliza was born at 39 weeks on the dot!)

Nate had a little obsession with barbecuing ribs. They were delish, though!

Rachel and her cute cousins had a piano recital. They all did very well. Thanks to Nana for teaching them!!

Eliza's first real bath. She's not a big fan!

Nate is grounded from using the camera!!

Haley is completely in love with her little sister. Sometimes a little too much! We think she just thinks Eliza is a doll. The first thing she says in the mornings is "Where's baby Liza?" and then she'll go search of her.

I try to give Haley plenty of time to hold her so she won't want to go get her all by herself. She's picked her up quite a few times. It doesn't matter if I'm literally right next to the baby, she'll wait until something distracts me and she'll swoop in for the steal. She has climbed into the bassinet with Eliza a few times. One time I caught her standing in the bassinet holding the baby... I about had a heart attack! I learned quickly that my guard cannot be let down EVER!

Eliza at one week.... her jaundice at it's peak. My beautiful yellow baby!

Cute, silly kids!

These are the pictures of our New Year's Eve. We went to my parent's house for homemade pizza and games. Nate got ungrounded from the camera and snapped a few pictures. (Ok, so he never was grounded, but he should be!) He tried to get pictures of people kissing and only accomplished it on my sister and her hubby. Only a few seconds late with my parents! I think I'm giving him commands in the top picture.... story of his life!! The poor guy! :)

Christmas Festivities

Our Christmas in a nutshell...

The Traditonal Christmas Clothes

The pictures were taken after church. I love how the boys look like I just made them tuck their shirts back in.... because that's exactly how it was!

The Swensen Christmas Party
All the grandkids singing Christmas carols. Rachel played Jingle Bells for everyone. She did a great job!

The Streaker
While my sister, Marci was reading a Christmas book her little boy pulled his diaper off in front of everyone. The kids all started to snicker until finally everyone burst out laughing. It took her a minute to figure out what was going on. How do you like my censorship?!!

Santa stopped by for a visit. Everyone loved him, except Haley. You can see the deep concern in her eyes that he was in the same room as her! Rachel informed me after she sat on his lap that his beard stunk! She didn't say he stunk of beef and cheese and luckily didn't accuse him of sitting on a throne of lies! ;)

The Nativity

Pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa


Christmas Eve

I was just planning on using the puppets I got from Super Saturday, but since Eliza was born before Christmas Rachel REALLY wanted to act out the nativity so Eliza could be baby Jesus. So we did a little of both. We had just gotten home from the hospital earlier that day. It was so nice to be home with everyone. I didn't get to make my usual turkey dinner, but we had some delicious soup that was brought to us by a lady in our ward. It was VERY appreciated!

Christmas Day

Santa showed up sometime in the night and brought the kids lots of fun things! We just had to take a picture of little Eliza in her stocking... our little Christmas baby. It was a rough night with her and the kids woke up around 6:00- right when Nate and I were finally getting some rest, of course! We held them off until 7:00. Pure torture (for the kids as well as the parents)!

We ventured out to Grandpa and Nana Bishop's for Christmas brunch. The kids got some fun books from their grandparents. (BTW Tye isn't mad about his books. He's mad because he had to hold them up and they were heavy for him!) We came home for a while to rest then went to Grandma and Grandpa Swensen's to wish them a merry Christmas. We really had a great Christmas and were glad Eliza came a week early to share it with us!

Eliza Joy

The labor & delivery story: I didn't feel very well all day Monday, December 21. Just feeling VERY pregnant and done! I tried to clean the house and get the last minute things done I hadn't gotten to yet. I guess that "nesting" thing they talk about kicked in. As the night came I was having more contractions and my lower back was aching.... I knew labor was beginning. I think I went to bed around 11:30 or 12:00 that night, but never really slept. I would doze off, but the contractions would wake me up. I would try to time them, but was lazy at it. So around 2:30 a.m. I decided to time them better. I used an application on my iphone that did all the work for me. It was awesome! All I did was press a button to start and stop the clock. It kept track of the duration and how far apart the contractions were. They were about 7 minutes apart, but soon after that they were between 2-5 minutes apart and hurting. So I called my mom to come out around 3:30 a.m.. I didn't want my water to break at home like it did with Rachel and Kaden. That pretty much sucks! We arrived at the hospital around 4:00 a.m.. When they checked me they said there was no change from my doctor visit last week. I was still at a 2+ and 80%. Dang it!! I wasn't very happy about that because #1 my contractions were hurting pretty bad and #2 I didn't want to get sent home... no one does! After an hour of waiting they checked me again and I was at a 3 and 80% and my contractions were getting further apart. WHAT?!! I didn't feel like they were, but their monitor sure said that. They wanted to send me home, but let me stay another hour to be nice. There was still no change after that hour. So by now it's about 6:00 and all I can think is if they send me home I'll for sure wait until my water breaks and then all hell and misery will break loose.... a home birth perhaps. (I think you get more paranoid and nervous with each birth. Besides the fact that it's my 5th and who knows how fast she'll come.) The nurse decided to go talk to the doctor on-call and see what he wanted to do. So we waited and waited. The shift change came and went and finally around 7:00 a.m. my new nurse came in and said let's have a baby! Music to my ears!! She had talked to my actual doctor and they decided to keep me and help my labor along, especially since Christmas was in 3 days. Why not have this baby a.s.a.p. and get home Christmas Eve?! I was group B strep positive... grrrr! so they started an antibiotic and let me get my epidural. Thank you!! My contractions were hurting more and more, but still getting further apart. Weird. We were just waiting for time to pass and then I got sick. Nate was the only one in the room with me and the only thing he could find was a huge garbage can. So I vomited in it. Then I was fine. I have never gotten sick during labor and that's not a new experience I was hoping to have. At 10:45 they started the second dose of antibiotics and got the pitocin going. I had progressed a little from a 3 to barely a 4. So I was progressing, just very slowly. Of course, once the pitocin stepped in the contractions were back to where they needed to be. An hour later, at 11:45 my doctor checked me and I was at a 5 and still 80%. She decided to break my water. I had never had it done manually, even when I was induced, it always just broke on it's own. So that was another new experience. At least it was more pleasant than throwing up! From here on until I give birth, time isn't on my radar. At some point the nurse checks me and says I'm complete! The doctor is over in her office across the parking lot. So they call her to come, they set-up everything, I push 3 times during one contraction and I have a sweet baby girl in my arms all in less than an hour! Eliza Joy was born December, 22, 2009 at12:39 p.m.. She weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz. and was 19 inches long. Nate says she cried before she was even all the way out! Wow! What a miracle. Those moments are indescribable (as most all of you know).

I ended up nauseated a couple times in the hours after. It would hit me. I'd throw up. Then I was fine. They did give me something for the nausea and I was pretty groggy the rest of the day. I guess I'd rather be groggy than barfing every hour. By the next morning I was fine.

I was so happy to hear my kids were allowed to visit us at the hospital. The "H1N1- No kids allowed" ban had been lifted. So the kids were all able to come visit. They all were very happy.... well, most of them...
A very proud biggest brother, Kaden.

Haley was extremely happy to see and hold her new sister, but wanted NOTHING to do with me. The only way we got her to come close to me was to let her play with the hospital bed!

Very happy big sister, Rachel! She will be a very good helper, I just know it! :)

Tye, Tye, Tye! As you can see, he's happy in the first picture, but then we tell him her middle name is Joy (named after Nate's mom, Mary Joy and she's our Christmas baby, so it was very fitting) and he gets all upset because he wanted it to be Crystal. I'm not quite sure where "Crystal" comes from, but little did we know it was a big deal to him. We told him he could call her Crystal for a nickname if he would like. He seemed okay with that. Thanks to Rachel for giving him rabbit ears and making him laugh and forget all his troubles!

Eliza with her grandparents.
Top: Grandpa and Nana Bishop, bottom: Grandma and Grandpa Swensen
A BIG thank you to all of them for helping so much with the 4 older kids!

We came home around 11:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve. It's always weird to drive away from the hospital with a child you are now responsible for. Now for the big, new adventure of life with 5 kids!!

rachel's baptism

These are a few pages out of the baptism book I made for Rachel's special day. Her Aunt Jess (as usual) took the pictures.... LOVE them!


Rachel was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today by her father. She said, "At first I was nervous to get baptized, but when I came up out of the water I wasn't nervous anymore. It was awesome!" She had a big grin on her face the entire time. She is such a sweet, good girl. I know she will be a great example to all those she comes in contact with throughout her life. I thought it was cute that later this evening she asked if it was okay that she didn't understand everything about the gospel. I told her everyone is always learning and understanding more each day, no matter what age they are or how much they already know about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's a lifelong growing experience. We had a little luncheon afterward with all her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I know she felt that it was a very special day in her life. Congratulations, Rachel!

weeks gone by

I thought I'd post some pictures of my growing self through this pregnancy. Really this post is for me, so I have it documented, but that also means I'm sharing it with all of you. Now, I only have one rule and that is you cannot discredit me carrying this baby! I may not LOOK as pregnant as you do/did, etc., but that doesn't mean I don't FEEL all the same pains and discomforts. So if you haven't noticed, I have issues with some peoples comments.... I know they mean well, but give a girl a break. I can't change the way my body carries a baby. Anyway, I'll leave it at that.

I can't believe she'll be here sometime this month.... or maybe tonight with all these contractions I'm having!! Nate is traveling so much and I only have limited days he's home for the next couple weeks. I am nervous he'll be across the country when the time comes, but that's just something I'll deal with if I HAVE to. Hopefully she'll wait until after Christmas like a good girl would!!

november misc. & thanksgiving

Rachel, Tye and Haley enjoyed the snow we got on November 14th. I think it was technically the second snow storm, but the first didn't leave much to play with.... either did this one really! Haley had fun until she pulled her mittens off and decided snow was way too cold!

The kids had their primary program November 15th. Nate had to fly out that morning so he missed it, but both sets of grandparents were able to be there. It was nice just having one child to wrestle through sacrament meeting and with 4 grandparents to help. The down side was that Haley distracted ALL of us right when Rachel said her part and we missed it. We all thought she didn't dare do it or something until our neighbor told us she did great. I was heart broken! Tye did awesome. He told Nate he was going to say his part loud enough so everyone would be able to hear him.... he didn't disappoint! Kaden did great, too. I guess there's always next year and you'll know I will be the most intent parent there!

I didn't get any snap shots of Thanksgiving, but we enjoyed the day at my parents house with most of my family. We do the every other year thing- this year my side of the family, next year Nate's side. We had family pictures with my whole family that morning. Unfortunately, it made it so all the guys missed out on playing a little football, but they survived.... some just barely though!! On our way to the pictures Nate got pulled over a block away from my parents house. Great! He hands the police officer his license, registration and proof of insurance and we hear him say, "Oh! Is that you Jilleen?" What a relief! It was a boy I grew up with and his parents still live by my parents. He said he wasn't giving out tickets on Thanksgiving unless we really deserved it. 42 in a 25.... probably deserved it, but thank goodness for family friends in high places or at least in the right profession at the right time!

The day after Thanksgiving we get together with my family to make gingerbread houses. It is crazy chaos, but fun. Although, next year I may just do gingerbread men.... much easier, smaller and the kids can each have their own. This year we had to do a girl side and a boy side to the roof to make everyone happy. It is already torn apart and eaten!

The kids decorated the Christmas tree for family home evening November 30th. This is the picture I sent to Nate since he was in Selah, Washington. We miss him when he travels!!

And lastly, Tye told me the other day, "You don't have to be so bossy!" I laughed and laughed then said, "Um, yes I do!" I love comments from 4 year olds.

rachel's 8th birthday

Rachel had a Princess party a few days before her birthday. At our ward's scout auction we ended up bidding on and winning a "Personal Princess" so we used that for her birthday. She chose Giselle from "Enchanted" to come. They had fun asking her questions during the "tea party". We took pictures of each girl with the princess then painted frames for them to take home with their picture inside. They played pin the tiara on the princess (I hired Nate for a stick figure drawing.... I don't think he was very thrilled to do it, but he obliged me!) I was afraid the girls were getting a bit too old for a princess party, but they seemed to enjoy it still. I figured it was now or never. Rachel didn't think she had anything to wear (dressing up was optional) so I pulled out my prom dress from my senior year.... yowza! She was completely thrilled. I'm not sure what face Rachel is pulling in the group picture. I know she was having a great time. She has some super friends and cousins!


Oh dear! THE CAKE! I always have a story..... or an excuse. So as I've said before, I don't do fancy. It isn't in me. It doesn't work. It isn't an option.
I was going to just use a mix, but the mix I opened was old and stale. So on to making it from scratch. Which is fine and yummy, so I didn't care. I tried to take the cake out of the pan, but of course with my luck parts of it stuck to the bottom of the pan. So it was back into the baking pan. It looked fine still. It had those lines from the cooling rack, but that was it. Fast forward a couple hours and my devil child, Haley discovers it.... Aack! She must have been in need of a treat. She had a steak knife and was in heaven! She even added a bit of salt on top just to savor it more, I guess. My first reaction was to just throw it out, but I decided it wasn't anything a little (or A LOT) of frosting couldn't fix! So we ate it. It was a sad cake, but made with lot's of love (and frosting)!!

Rachel got her ears pierced on her birthday (November 24th). She's been begging for a year, but had to wait until she turned 8. She cried more about it before the girls pierced them than during or after. Just so you know, I didn't force her to do it. She REALLY wanted to and found the courage to do it. Luckily they did both ears at the same time, or else I'm not sure she would have ended up with both ears pierced! She chose some cute pink flower studs and I think it's cute that I'll catch her sneaking a peak in the mirror at them.

Her grandparents came over for cake and ice cream and I of course forgot to get a picture of her with them... yet again! Nate was working in St. George and couldn't be there, but such is our life! She had a great birthday. She's my big 8 year old now.... I just can't believe it!

nate's birthday

Nate turned 31 on November 18th. He somehow managed to be in-town for it. Things have really picked up double time at work (which is a blessing), but we are all still trying to get used to his traveling schedule once again. Rachel ended up with strep throat that day so our going out plans had to fizzle, but that's just life for ya! I think Nate had a happy birthday.... I hope so anyway!

baptism preview

My sister-in-law took some fun pictures of Rachel in her baptism dress last week. I can't believe she's turning 8 in a couple weeks. Where did the time go?

no more "ginky"

Last Saturday was Haley's final day with her binky.....
I let her suck on it for a minute then gave it to Nate and he cut it off! He says it was cruel to let her suck on it then take it away and destroy it. He's probably right, but I wanted one last picture. Priorities, Nate. Priorities. She didn't cry then, but sure had a look of what-the-heck-did-my-parents-just-do!!!
"Ginky, boken," is what she says every night when I rock her and sing her a song. Breaks my heart a little, but it was time to get rid of it. She's still trying to adjust to getting herself to sleep without it, but she's doing pretty well with a little extra TLC.