Emery asked the other day, "Mom, do we blog anymore?"  I think she means "you" when she says "we." Blame Mr. Handsome. He gave me an iPad shortly after Rowyn was born, (for my birthday).  It's a little too convenient to use the internet on the couch while I nurse. I have rarely occupied the desk chair in the office the past four months.  Desktop?  What's a Desktop?  I'll try to be better.

Meet Rowyn

It's official:  Shyler and I are smitten.

Here's the low-down:  I had something called Cholestatis when I was pregnant with Dashle. I got it again with lucky #5 around 30 or 31 weeks.  I spent the last 3 or 4 weeks of my pregnancy doing non-stress tests at the hospital twice a week as well as weekly blood tests.  I had all the symptoms of Cholestasis...there just wasn't any proof in the pudding...or blood work.  My awesome OB was just waiting for some proof.  I'm not being sarcastic when I say she was "awesome."  She really was.  When my symptoms for this strange condition first appeared I left a message on her voice mail.   She told her nurse, "Britt is on her fifth pregnancy. I know she knows what she is talking about. Make an appt. for her ASAP and get a lab write-up going."  I really like people who trust my instincts.  Once the babe and I hit 38+ weeks my OB scheduled an induction.  Cholestatis can be harmful to the baby and I had scratches all over my body like I was living in a briar patch.  Enough was enough.  I called my mom and she hopped on a plane in a jiffy. She was in our home ready to help the night before the scheduled induction.

Here's Coy reaping the benefits of a big mom with an even bigger shirt.

And a goodnight kiss to mom and baby sister before the big day.  He looks quite thrilled here. Little did he understand.  The next day he would become "another one of the big kids" and his reign as baby supreme ended.

Early bird check-in and start-up for October 20, 2011...6am. 

The Heavens smiled down upon me this day.  Our sweet baby girl arrived at 12:22pm.  It was a fairly short labor with an epidural that worked on one side of my body.  If you're paying for an epidural than it should really work the way it is supposed to.  Thankfully, two small pushes got this sweetie out.  I'm sure my brothers love reading these details. (This is a shout out picture for my sister, B-Dizzle.  She doesn't think any baby looks cute at birth, especially when still slimy and caked.  I beg to differ.).

During the labor my nurse, Jill, checked to see the status of our babe's descent.  She managed to get a few fingers on the head and said, "I don't feel any hair. I think she's going to be a baldy."  I guess Jill didn't account for the slime covering this fine head of hair. 

Our sweet little Asian...Native American...Polynesian baby.  So, she looked hardly Caucasian.  We didn't care. We were in love.

Rowyn DeMill--7lbs. 4 oz.  19.5 inches

Giving birth to some of my children required tears...of happiness, a bit of pain, a lot of exhaustion, and some frustration that the dang kid wasn't out yet.  On the contrary, this sweet little thing arrived smoothly and safely with eyes wide open.  I could only smile.

And she seemingly smiled back.

Another reason I really sailed so smoothly was thanks to Dr. Molly Ezzie...a fantastic OB who wasn't just my doctor after it was all said and done, but a friend, too.  In the words of Anne Shirley, "She is a kindred spirit." 

I love people!  And part of what makes an experience so delightful are the people one is surrounded by, like Jill, who knew I was coming in and requested to be my nurse.  We had met multiple times during my twice-weekly trips to the hospital for non-stress tests and always found topics upon topics to discuss especially in the realm of good books.  She has a daughter in college and a freshman-high- school son.  We are at such different stages in terms of our family dynamics.  I love as I get older age becomes very relative...well at least when my friends are older than me. 

Here's the poor demoted boy with a bewildered look: "What IS THAT?"  He kept asking me, "Mom, why you in the bed?"

Once Rowyn and I arrived home, the new big brother decided she might be alright...as long as she kept her eyes closed and stayed quiet.  He couldn't quite get a handle on her name at first so he would ask, "I hold hers?"

 

My mom is pretty great.  She wasn't sure she would make it for the impending birth because of obligations at home.  I told her once over the phone it was okay and she could come when it was most convenient for her.  I said, "This isn't my first time around the block.  This is my fifth pregnancy. We'll be okay."  She than replied, "That is exactly why I need to be there before the baby comes because this is your fifth pregnancy."  She stayed with us for 10 days and we loved every moment she was there.  I'm grateful to my dad and little brother, Ammon, for their willingness to share. 

This was a pretty excited crew to welcome home our newest addition.  They wanted to come with Shyler to pick us up at the hospital, but I needed silence in the car before entering the circus at home.  Dashle couldn't remember his new sister's name so he would just ask, "What's her name again?"  The girls couldn't go to bed the first couple of nights unless they felt they had gotten a fair share of holding and loving their new baby doll.  And our Coy-boy tried desperately to find solace and contentment in his new position as "not the baby."  It all takes a bit of adjusting and readjusting yet nothing is better than a new baby in the home.  

   

Here we go, here we go.

It is mid-October and I am a day away from giving birth to our fifth child...a girl.  Don't ask what her name will be because we're not going to tell you.  We're just fun like that.  The other day while preparing dinner Mr. Handsome asked the kids, "Are you excited for little Suzy Q to come?"  The girls about died.  "Is that what you're going to name her?" they responded.  Even though we assured them he was teasing,  Addie asked later before bed if we were really going to name her Suzy Q.  Apparently, we tease too much and it has become difficult for the children to decipher between our facts and fictions.   I, personally, still love Dashle's choice...Pickle. 


In lieu of my impending labor and delivery this post is a random dose of pictures and adventures to do a final catch up to present day before the babe comes. 

 Mr. Handsome and I took a weekend getaway to Pittsburgh for our 11th Anniversary in August.  We are very blessed to be surrounded by such fantastic friends who are willing to watch the kiddos so we can have time together. Of course, it is in the best interest of everyone involved to split our crew into twos lest someone takes all four and decides not to have any more children after a weekend with the DeMill kids. 

 This kids were quite relieved when we returned from Pittsburgh.  Each was very emotional. I guess two days of our absence was sufficient to make their hearts grow fonder.  The following morning (Sunday) they felt impressed to try on my boots/shoes.  They just laughed and laughed.  They thought it was the funniest thing in the world to wear their mom's lady shoes. What is ironic is that I remember doing the same thing with my mom's boots when I was a little girl.  Perhaps it is a rite of passage. 

 At the end of July our besties were on the move from Massachusetts to Washington.  I don't think one can go more end to end across the country than this.  It had been a year since we were last together and the children could not contain themselves.  Each morning I was awakened by excited chatter which echoed through our home.  The kids had a year's worth of things to say  and only two days to say it.  We loved the few days we were given with them.  The girls even got up with us the morning of  the besties' departure (at 5am) to see them off.  They were sad to see them go, but our besties' oldest, Isaac, simply said, "It's okay, we'll see you at the next reunion."  Thanks to our siblings getting hitched we are basically family and we wouldn't want it any other way. 

Yep, two pregos in one picture. We are twins from different mothers. We have the same name, our husbands hold the same occupation, same number of kids who are the same ages, and the last three of our pregnancies/births have been within days of each other.   This time around we were both carrying girls.  The only regret is that it becomes very difficult to help and take care of the other because we are both in postpartum at the same time.  The husbands think we plot and plan our pregnancies to coincide, but we stand firm that it just sort of happens that way and they should stop acting shocked. 

 For FHE one night in August we hit up a Columbus Clippers baseball game.  We went with some great friends from the Ortho program as it was Ohio Health Night.

 One Sunday after church Coy saw a home video from his first birthday where he got into a box of Crisp Rice and sat helping himself to fistfuls. Of course, it was his birthday the last time it happened so I didn't mind.  Luckily, I was napping when he decided to reenact the event.  It's a good thing he has a great dad who has the patience and peace of mind to go get the camera. 

Here's the D-man on his first day of Preschool. He was very excited, which is comforting to any parent. He is attending a Peer Model preschool. He is one of 3 or 4 kids in his class who show other children with IEPs , by example, how to interact socially with classmates and teachers. 

The best thing about the elementary open house (before school starts) has to be the slushies the PTA passes out after a meet and greet with the teachers. I love this picture.  What does it say to you?  It tells me that our kids know how to have fun and at the same time they like each other.

 First day of school for the girlies at the end of August. Our cute 4th and 2nd graders. They love school and that makes us happy. 

Hundreds upon hundreds of flags were placed in honor of 9/11/01 at one of our city parks.  We have dedicated a special Family Home Evening (the Monday that falls around this anniversary) for the last couple of years to telling our children about what happened on 9/11.  The kids played at the park and Mr. Handsome took 20+ pictures of flags. He makes me laugh.  I guess that is the perk of cameras these days...you just delete the ones you don't want.

 While Grandma DeMill was visiting over a weekend in September we decided to do the zoo.  The Columbus Zoo is actually a pretty impressive place.  It is Jack Hanna's zoo, you know.  If you don't know Jack Hanna, Google him.  The cowboy above is not Jack Hanna.

 We had a great visit with Grandma DeMill.  We're glad she came!  We hadn't seen her since last January.  She is a great grandma to our kids, which is a bonus because then they are anxious for her to come back again.  She teaches them, and plays with them, sings to them, and reads countless books with them.  She does everything a grandma should do.   

Happy 3rd Coy Boy

Oh! How time has flown by. The below picture is our sweet Coy only a few weeks old.  My pregnancy with him was fairly smooth sailing, as well his delivery.  He has always been the epitome of sweetness and I hope he never abandons this philosophy to life.  He was our hairless wonder since all of his other siblings had fine toupees.  He's still trying to grow a normal head of hair 3 years later.  He is all boy just like his older brother and though the rambunctiousness makes me a little crazy sometimes, I love how they rumble, tumble, roll, and wrestle all day with each other.  Coy's life is still heavily dedicated to trains, cars, and trucks and I am constantly amazed how it all came naturally for him without any coaxing from the rest of us.  He is an early to rise, late to bed type.  He often hauls his 5 blankets and 1 pillow (with Thomas trains on it) into our room during the night and settles into a cozy sleep on the floor next to our bed.  He wakes around 5:30am along with his dad and follows Shyler into the bathroom either to ask about taking a shower or playing with "yours ipod."  He is as saavy with the electronics as most "20 somethings."  Perhaps his future lies with Microsoft or Apple or a new company called CoyTronics.   

Coy was with Shyler and me when we purchased this birthday present for him. We thought we could get one past him while in the store. Fat chance.  He kept asking, "I see train box?"  So, we caved and let him savor the picture of trains and tracks on the box until we checked out of the store.  Once we got home he wouldn't take a nap without " train box."  We had to sneak it out of his room and stash it away (his birthday was still a few days away) while he was dreaming.  We figured, "out of sight, out of mind." Nope, this kid remembers everything. He asked about the "train box" every day until his birthday.  Can you see the joy on his face when he finally got to open it?  Now that's passion.

Coy is a lover of trains and we love this about him.  Once the train box was opened everything else became sub par.  Trains must stick to a strict schedule you know. 

Classic Coy face.  I think we have a picture of this face from all three birthdays. He is a shy fellow and tends to get embarrassed when the attention is placed completely on him.  He seems to be more of a "behind the scenes" type of guy. 

I was large and in charge with baby #5 on Coy's big day.  I will always remember how beautiful the weather was.  The kids were still wearing shorts and it was the beginning of October.  So fun!

Since I was quite pregnant I admitted to Shyler I wasn't interested in slaving over a hot oven to create a masterpiece train cake.  Instead, I hit up the WalMart bakery section and found a cake on clearance which originally had Elmo and Big Bird each in a car on top of the cake.  I bought two trains and replaced the Sesame Street characters and then squeezed some extra frosting around the trains to make some tracks.  It turned out pretty cute for a spur of the moment decision.