Jackson... Home Sick

I am so behind in blogging and journaling our family life, but
I need to start somewhere & play catch up.
Today is a good day for that, because I am sure
this is a day Jackson will remember.

I am waiting for a phone call from Kim or Teresa, the secretaries at the school,
telling me that Morgan or Jackson has broken a limb.

Today, I got a call.  "Jackson threw up in class.
Will you please come and get him."

Umm... ya sure you don't want to keep him there?

The poor kid was mortified! 

Landon had been sick last night
and Brian took care of him, but Jackson didn't show any
signs this morning of being sick, so I let him have a full cup of
strawberry yogurt... yeah, I owe his teacher HUGE!

Mrs. Bates is an angel- seriously! 
She was so concerned for Jackson about feeling embarrassed
and told me to just give him a big hug and let him know it was okay.
I love her!

Then, she had each of the kids color
"Get Well" cards for him.

Jackson was a little happy about that.
My favorite cards were from his 2 good friends,
 Brinlee and Makell.  I love what they wrote in their cards.
"I like you vere much!"
and
"Get well soon!!  Get Better.  We all miss you."

He and Landon watched movies all afternoon with
gatorade and crackers.  We haven't had the flu for 5 years!
I guess we are a little over due.... Blah!

 

 

Bynn's First Week Home

The kid couldn't get enough of Brynlie this first week. They all took lots of turns holding her, kissing her, and trying to remember to support her head.  She is so little and all of the clothes I had that I thought would fit her were a little too big.  Grandma Smith gave her this adorable little monkey outfit that fits her perfectly!

Yeah, she's kind of like our little doll.

 

 

 

Cute little bum...

 

We had so many people do wonderful things for us.  We had meals brought in by
the Relief Society sisters, friends, neighbors, & family for the entire first week.  Karen took the kids to play and swim all day and they had a blast and my Mom helped with the kids and  included us in their Father's Day Dinner so I wouldn't need to cook.  Then some of my closest friends brought in additional meals the following weeks, talked to me, watched my kids for the afternoon so I could sleep, called to see if I needed help, came and helped with my kids, and one close friend brought over her crew of daughters to watch my kids while she cleaned my house- and yes, I mean cleaned my entire house! She vacuumed, mopped, scrubbed the bathrooms, & talked to me all while I sat on my king size bed
watching soap operas and eating chocolate and fed Brynlie.
I tell ya, Brian, my family, and friends made me feel like a Queen.

So many people have been so kind to me with clothes & beautiful blankets for Brynlie and what has meant the most to me is the outpouring amount of love I, along with my family have received from so many.

I don't know what I would do without any of them. I wish that everyone could come
home from the hospital with the kind of support I had when we came home.  

One day SIL Rachelle came to help with the kids while I rested.  She played with them, took them on a walk, and fed them lunch. Then she took them to a friends house (the Henry's) to play.  I was so tired and a little emotional due to the new flow of milk that I needed as much sleep as possible.

When I woke up I came out to find a couple of bags of groceries on the counter along with a wrapped package and homemade bread and strawberry jam.  I was very confused as to where it came from.  I felt like I was a detective trying to figure it out.  I soon realized the groceries were from Rachelle and the bread & beautiful blanket were from my dear friend Sis. Bliss.  She has made a blanket for Hallie, Landon, & now Brynlie.   She taught me how to make her fabulous homemade bread (Brian's favorite) when we served in Primary together.  She & Larry are like family to us. We are so blessed to have so many amazing people around us.

Brian is a little tired here I think.  I think I made him work too hard. 

This is how Landon feels about not being the baby anymore.  

 

Jackson & Morgan love to hold Brynlie and Jackson really needed a haircut. ;)

 

Yay, we got a little smile from Brynlie.  She gets so happy whenever
one of the kids walks into the room and starts to talk to her.  She cries if she
is in the room by herself.

Hallie has been so funny lately- well actually she is always funny.  Today she asked me if she could have a swim party for her birthday. I explained that her birthday is in February so we can't go swimming outside.  She asked if her birthday was by Grandpa's and I told her it was by Daddy's so she asked if Daddy had a "swim birthday"  I told her that it is usually snowing when it is her and Daddy's birthday. She got the saddest look on her face and said,  "I don't want to have a snow birthday, I want to have a swim birthday."
Yeah, Daddy feels the same way.  I told her that maybe we could go to a indoor swimming pool on her birthday.  I am so glad we are planning a birthday that is 7 months away.

Hallie's collection.  She had her loving family all set up at the beach while she slept.

Our cute & sweet baby- we love those eyes.

 

Lots of love for this new baby.

Grandpa & Grandma had the other 4 kids while we were at the hospital. They came
to let Morgan, Jackson, Hallie, & Landon meet their new sister.
Brynlie is their 13th grandchild- 7th granddaughter. They will have their 7th grandson
in October and I think they are loving being grandparents.

Uncle Jeff stopped by with Wendy's frostys and fries. As hard as Brian
and I tried, along with Brittany on the phone, he doesn't want any more kids. :)

Grandma Karen came to give Brynlie hugs and kisses before she
left on a fun vacation with Wayne to Connecticut and New York.

More pictures of our sweet little baby.

 

 

 

 

Brian getting our last little baby dressed and ready to leave the hospital.
And of course, more bonding time.

 

 

I love how tiny she is in here.

Brynlie received LOTS of LOVE when we got home.  One morning, Brian took care of
everything so I could sleep in with Brynlie.  When I woke up, I looked up to see
4 heads and 8 eyes staring down at me and watching me. I think they were actually
watching Brynlie, but it still made me a little nervous to have all of these little faces staring
down at me.  In a somewhat panicked voice I said, "Brian!"  :)

 

 

Morgan wanted to hold her all day long.  It was so nice talking to each of the kids about the fun they had while they would each come in for their turn to hold Brynlie.

Jackson loved cuddling with her when he woke up.

 

Hallie loves this new little sister.  As she held her here she looked at me and said,
 "Mom, she is so cute! Where did you get her from?!"  I explained and then she said,
"She is so stinkin' cute!"

 

Brynlie Hope... The Story of Her Birth

Brynlie Hope
June 7, 2012
3:21 p.m.
6 pounds 10 ounces  19 inches long

I am not a very patient person.  Well, in some ways I am, but when
it comes to being 9 months pregnant, I have a very hard time waiting.
I just get so excited to see & hold the baby I've been carrying for the last
9 months, that each day that I haven't delivered seems like a year.

At the hospital on Thursday.  We went Wednesday afternoon because I had
been having constant contractions. They weren't hurting at all, but instead felt like
cramping.  I called the nurse and they said to go in.  While I was there, I wasn't progressing at
all, so they decided to send me home.  A doctor that works with our doctor said he would
induce me the following morning though.  We were very grateful for that.  I was nervous that
with Brian working in Salt Lake & over an hour away, that when I went into full on labor he wouldn't be
with me.  The plan was that I would have my dad drive me to the hospital and stay with me until Brian
could get there.  As much as I love my dad, I was afraid that Brian would miss the birth, and I really
wanted to be with him, just like with all of the other births of our kids.

So, I was very thankful that this doctor said he would induce me the following morning.  My mom
already had the kids and when we called to tell her the change of plans she told us to go and do something fun together. We decided to go out to dinner to Zupa's, go the dollar movie, "Mirror, Mirror", get some new jeans & shirts for Brian, and then go home and get to bed early since we had to be at the hospital by 6:30am

The doctor that we love, Dr. Rees, told me he didn't want to induce me until I was at a 2 or 3.  He delivered both Hallie & Landon & both deliveries went great.  We were nervous to have a different doctor because when we had Jackson we had a really bad experience with the doctor that was on call for the day.  Dr. Rees
told me that even though he was going out of town and most likely wouldn't be delivering, that the other doctors were great and to not worry.   At the time I was frustrated that I couldn't be induced the next
day when he was there and could deliver, however now looking back, if I would have waited for the contractions to hit strong, I probably would have been dilated to a 2 or 3 and delivered on the side of the road!

Once we got to the hospital on Thursday, I was induced by 7:30. We waited forever for my body to go from a "1.5" to a "3".    I told the nurses that once I got to a 5, I would be at a 10 within 10 minutes and that it just took me forever to get to a 5.  So, we waited and waited and got to know our nurses really well.  One of our nurses, Kristy, we requested because she had been our nurse when Morgan was born and was so sweet.  She made it such a sweet experience and is an angel. She was training another nurse as well and both of them were so sweet to Brian & I and treated me so well!

I finally got to a 3 and the nurse came in and checked me 10 minutes later.  She got a surprised look on her face and told me I was at a 10 and she would be right back.  Kristy came in to double check, was really calm and told the other nurse to call the doctor. Then she told me to hold my legs together and not push.  I guess my body decided it was ready. :)  It all happened so fast and before I knew it, the doctor was there,  Dr. Jacobs,( a different doctor who they had to pull out of the office), and I pushed 3 times and out came this sweet little baby girl.  I saw Jackson's nose right away, brown hair like Brian, Hallie's mouth and eyes like Landon and Morgan.  I couldn't believe how much she looked like everyone.

The only thing that made me nervous during the delivery was when her heart rate would drop whenever I would have a contraction.  They slowed down the contractions and put a heart monitor on her. Then she started to have problems because they had broken the water earlier right after they gave me the best epidural I have ever been given.  So they added more fluid in so she would be okay. I was just nervous of having a c-section or that something would go wrong for her. Brian and I are so thankful  for modern medicine and that everything went so well. I was grateful for Brian, he is such a strength to me and helped me feel calm so many times.

Me, after giving birth to our sweet Brynlie.

I love this picture. Brynlie is our little "hope" for the future.  She and Brian
had some good bonding moments.

 

 

 

 

Her cute little mullet

 

The kids came to see their cute new sister

 

 

 

 

 

 

and the fun & craziness beings. :)