Sunday

Quite an emphasis on keeping the sabbath day holy has been prevalent in church the last couple of months. I love it. Not because I'm doing it well but because I need the reminder to do so. Our family has gotten into the routine where we lounge about on Sunday morning until noon, rush to get ready for church, deal with the chaos at church with our callings, rush back home to prepare something for the dinner we will share with extended family, mingle and socialize while kids are making messes everywhere, and go to bed late. There is no room for feeling the Spirit, embracing the serenity of the sabbath, or doing service for anyone. No room for feasting on the scriptures, reading the Ensign, or doing family history work. It's a far cry from "Day of Rest" in my book. I would love to change up some wonderful but abused traditions, but how do I bring that up to the rest of the family? And how could I get my kids on board with appropriate Sunday activities? I think I'll mull it over.....

Anaïs Lizet Chavez

With all the projects winding down, I was starting to feel anxious again for this baby to come. I had previously felt too nervous because I wasn't sure I was ready to handle another child. How would I get anything done? How would each Chavezloco get the attention they need? How could I be the wife I wanted to be with so many responsibilities to juggle? It was overwhelming. However, once we finished the downstairs room and set up the crib and changing table, I started to calm down with the worrying and the anxious feeling returned. I was ready. We were ready.

Well, almost.

We still hadn't decided on a name. This name was a really hard one to decide on. Nothing seemed to really pop out as "perfect" enough.

So we started with a name we liked and expounded from there : 

Ani. Perfect nickname.

Lizet. Perfect middle name.

Anaïs. Perfect first name.

The cherry on top was when we discovered that Anaïs was Siena and Qiana's names smashed together (Siana) and spelled backwards. It was perfect for our final child.

Anaïs Lizet Chavez it would be. Finally, we were ready.

Heavenly Father was very patient with us getting to that point because that night I woke up around 1:50 with contractions. They were strong enough I didn't wait too long to call Sierra to have her come watch the kids. I was very worried that it would end up being a false alarm and that I would have put Sierra and Juan out, but an even greater fear was that of not getting an epidural on time. Yep, that fear trumped the others by a long shot.

We pulled into the hospital parking lot around 3:15. They checked me and said I was 3 cm dilated. Bummer! I was 3 cm dilated at my last appointment the week before. I wanted to cry. But they told me to wait an hour and if I had progressed enough then they could admit me. Luckily, the hour flew by and I progressed to 4 cm. They admitted me, called the nurse anesthetist who came in around 5:30 to give me the epidural, started a growing and rigorous round of pitocin, broke my water and told me to start pushing around 9:15 am. Around 8 contractions later, our beautiful baby girl was born. I was so grateful we didn't have any complications. Her Apgars were 8,9 and she was perfect. Born at 9:38 am, 7 lbs 3 oz, 18"long. It was a beautiful and surreal moment, just like the other children's births had been. I felt and still feel so incredibly blessed to have them here with us, healthy and strong.

Since her birth, Anaïs has been a dream baby. She's is a great eater (painfully so; I have to mostly pump because of the damage she's left with her strong suck.) She's a normal baby in the sense that she's asleep most of the time. She's a regular little gal, keeping Pampers well in business. She's got two dimples that just light up her whole face when she gives us those unintentional smiles. Lots of hair. And pretty much Qiana's exact baby copy. She's ruling the house and everyone in the family is convinced that she absolutely should. Gosh, we love her.

. After the epidural kicked in. Crazy thing.

My rock solid support system.

Love LOVE love at first sight.

Selfie. 

Looks just like Baby Qiana did.

Day Two.

So tiny! Her first day home.

After her first bath.

With Tia Sierra 

With Grandma 

Loves her sis.

Full car now! Siena loves sitting by her so she can sing lullaby songs to her.

Ezra is surprisingly handling the transition from Baby of the family to Big brother very well.