September 2014

Jeff's best friend Nate got married in Utah in September.  We decided to take the whole family. Traveling is super crazy with all the children but they did so well. 

The day before the wedding, we got to take the kids to the mountains for a family and friends luncheon.  They had all sorts of activities including human bumper soccer and lots of minute to win it games.  It was so wonderful to be in the mountains again. They call for me 

The next morning was the sealing in the Salt Lake Temple.  My parents had the kids so Jeff and I could attend.  Late the night before, Jeff realized that he had forgotten our recommends and after texting and calling our bishop with no response we headed up there in the morning on faith. By the time we arrived our bishop had spoken with the temple and we were in!  The sealing was perfect! 

After all the hoopla was done we snuck away to have lunch with Amy and George at the JS Memorial Building then back to the temple to do our first live session.  It was really interesting to do a live session. I mostly loved to see the temple and all the intricate carvings, paintings etc.  While in the Celestial Room we asked an usher to give us a little tour.  He showed us a room where Pres Hunter lived and then showed us the back of a stained-glass window into the Holy of Holys.  It was awesome. 

The reception was held that evening at Nate's uncle's home in Provo.  It was absolutely beautiful (pics lost).  There was a sweet video, good food, and dancing. To top off the night the wedding party jumped into the pool in their clothing while fireworks went off.  It was great!

The next day we got to go on a hike with my parents.  It was perfect weather and a perfect little hike for the kids. 

While in Utah we got in some good cousin time of-course.  I love that my kids are all pretty much the same ages as Brett's.  It's makes it more fun.

I also got to hang-out with Monica which is always a hi-light.  We tried to take several selfies and none of them were very flattering.  It was hilarious. 

Once we got back to Texas the party didn't end.  We went to an Express game and enjoyed the fireworks after the game. 

BYU came and played UT so naturally I had some brothers come into town and Zack Taylor came too.  Even though it was too hot, I think we all had a great time.  Jeff threw his first large tailgate before the game.  Not sure if he'll ever do it again. It was A LOT of work.  My brothers had to leave the very next day. I was bummed I couldn't show them around ATX.

As per usual, my milk supply is decreasing rapidly.  I have started supplementing at nights to help Cecil's tummy get full.  Also, he started really crawling and loving his new found freedom. 

Extra August 2014

I found a few more pictures from August...this fiasco with my pictures has me really reeling. 

Here is cute little Coco boy at the library looking at a Backyardigains book. I have LOVED these characters since Jillian was a baby, and all of my children really loved them too. In-fact Jill will still sit and watch the shows with her younger siblings. 

Camille had her hi-light class for gymnastics in August. This was her last class as she wants to try out ballet. She has really become quite athletic and strong through gymnastics.  I think she's overshadowed sometimes by Jillian. Camille is just as athletic and coordinated and strong as Jillian was at this age but best of all Camille has an attitude to match.  She is always happy, bubbly, funny, and brings a smile to everyone's face.  She is not competitive though while Jillian is.  I just love to see the differences in all my children but I hope that Camille can learn to be a little more competitive.  

Camille is super quick down the runway too. May-be she'll be a great jumper in Track and Field. :)

Cecil got his first tooth in August. He smiled all the way through it. He's just such a happy baby.

January 2014

With the beginning of the new year and my pregnancy drawing to a close I tried to spend a lot of quality time with these three.  They would always accompany me on my walks and copy me when I'd "curb-walk". I've curb-walked with all my pregnancy's. I don't remember who told me this, but I heard (while I was pregnant with Jillian) that if I went on walks with one foot in the road and one foot on the curb it would help my baby drop and my hips open, thus helping my body progress to birthing a baby. Who knows if it really works, but I keep doing it no matter how ridiculous I must look. I couldn't believe that this three was soon to be four. 

My mom was able to come out to Texas a week before my due date. I went in for my 39 week appt on the 16th. I had Dr Anger strip my membranes and then I came home and went about the day with my mom. I was trying to make sure she knew the schedule for the kids and the routes to all their activities. I awoke the morning of the 17th knowing my water broke. I didn't have a large gush of water but a slow steady leak. I told Jeff to go to work but keep his phone with him. My mom and I started raking the leaves in the backyard in hopes it would help start labor. After a few hours I decided to go into the dr.'s office just to see if my water had really broke. Sure enough toady was going to be the day.  They told me to go directly across the street to the hospital. Instead of doing that I went home, finished packing my bags, kissed and cuddled Coco, and called Jeff.  The party was about to start.  

I got to the hospital around 11:30.  Janice was working there and was able to come visit during her lunch break. My contractions were really irregular, and I was planning on going natural so I asked to walk the halls. My nurse was not liking that idea. She was nervous because I've had so many babies things might move too quickly for me to get back into the room etc. I made her call my dr and get permission. So I walked the halls a few times and did some squats. Nothing steady was happening. Jeff came and then the Rattray's and my mom brought the other kids. I really feel lucky to have had such great support. My entourage really made me feel loved. We were all dying to know if the baby was a girl or a boy. 

In the meantime, Jeff had to grab a picture of Dr. Anger and Coco. Coco was Dr. Anger's "first patient" delivery as a bone-a-fide Dr. She looks 12 because she probably isn't much older but we trust her.  

After several hours and slow progress, I consented to have some pitocin to get things moving as my water had been broken for about 12 hours. Dr. Anger went home and wasn't on call the evening but told my nurse to call her cell phone because she wanted to be the one to deliver my baby. I called my dear friend Kristen over to snap some birth shots. It was so nice to have her there. She wanted to be a fly on the wall, but I actually really enjoyed having her more present. Her conversation with Jeff was a welcome distraction while laboring.

When I was 7.5 cm dilated, and the contractions were coming fast and hard, I decided (with much persuasion from Jeff) to get an epidural. I actually hate getting epidurals. I feel out of control with my body and it makes me even more emotional. The idea of no or less pain was over riding at this point though. 

Right after I received the epidural they wanted to rupture my membranes more. I was still feeling all the pain but was assured the epidural would kick in soon. As they popped my water, the nurses were surprised when I still had full function of my body. After 45mins and no relief at all the anesthesiologist came back. At this point I was a 9 and feeling everything. I was tearful and throwing up and just a mess. Jeff was concerned and getting starting to feel upset with the drs and nurses. The nurse kept putting a mask on me because the baby's heart rate would drop a lot during the contractions, then I'd pull it off to throw-up. It wasn't pretty. 

After my second bolus of epidural medication they had me roll to my right side and I had immediate relief but also immediate need to push. The nurse checked me and it was go time. Apparently the nurse couldn't figure out how to get a hold of Dr. Anger and was running around trying to set the room up, all the while I'm feeling urges to push.

Once, Dr. Anger got there and checked me, she was visibly upset at the nurse and began hustling to get the baby out. The baby was in a bit of distress because it had be in the birth canal for a long time. After I pushed twice she hollered for the vacuum. When I heard that, I was determined to get this baby out of me! I more hard, long push and I was done!! It was 6:24 pm. and we had a new baby BOY!!

He was 8lbs 4 ounces and 20 inches long.

 We were in awe.

When the other children came, they couldn't look at him enough. Each took turns holding him and kissing him and also showing concern for me. I really believe that giving children a sibling is a blessing in their lives.

He was perfect. Now came the hard part, giving him a name. 

I was vying for Pete or Marc, both names from my father's family. Jeff was vying for Cecil. We decided on Cecil Pete. It fits.

When I came home from the hospital the kids passed him around and we all couldn't get enough. 

My mom was a champ while I was recovering. She cleaned and did laundry and carted the kids all over the place. She even took them to the circus with the Rattrays. In the down time she loved to hold the baby.

I know they say that when a baby smiles it's just gas. I don't believe that for one second. Cecil Pete smiles all the time and he's not always gassy.

My visiting teaching partner has become a good friend and she took new-born pics as a gift. This was her first time and she did great. I could just stare at my baby all day long. 

Winter weather here can be crazy. I let the girls jump with the sprinkler on one day,

or we'd take the baby to the park.

Then, there would be days like this. "Snow" (really ice) everywhere and school cancelled for several days because of hazardous driving conditions.  

Our January kept getting better. On the 26th Coco turned 2.

He must have known it was his special day. We was just so sweet and smiley all day. The girls dotted on him and spoiled him. He is really a great addition to our family. He has come to really really love cars and trucks. We often go outside to see the garbage truck as it makes him so happy to see BIG trucks. He's a smart little dude too. He can identify all the letters and most of the numbers up to 10. He's a bit of a scaredy cat and doesn't love to go down slides or be pushed too hard in the swings. He seems to be super strong though with a lot of muscles for his age. We always get comment's from others who pick him up about how "solid" he is. (I'm still not sure if they are just saying he's chubby but trying to be nice. Ha.) He still flexes and has "mini-seizures" when he's excited. He loves to tag along with his sisters and always needs mom close by. I feel so happy to have him.

We had the Rattray's over for cake and presents. Then we did the traditional balloon launch. I was nervous that he'd be upset by letting balloons go, but I was wrong. He loved watching them.

He got a balance bike from us and loved being pushed around on it.

side-note: I actually can't find his 2 year stats but he was around 93% for height and 97% for weight. His dr. used a formula to figure out how tall he'll be as an adult, and it predicted 6'1.  We are happy that he'll hopefully have a little height, but really just hope he'll continue to be healthy.   

September 2013

My 20 wk ultrasound went well.  I didn't find out the sex of the baby. With all the previous babies I have found out the sex. I just wanted a new experience. Jeff didn't agree with me.  I almost didn't let him come to the appt but he search my phone and found out when it was anyway, so I let him come.  The u/s tech knew I didn't want to know so when she needed to do the measurements etc on the lower half of the baby she made me look away. After she was done Jeff asked her the sex and she still wouldn't say. She said, "if the mother says no, I don't tell". I could sense that Jeff was losing a little bit of patience so I let her tell him. He has sworn not to tease, drop hints, or tell anyone the big secret. Hopefully, he can hold out. The baby looked healthy and had all the right parts in the right places and that's what really matters. The baby was throwing up signs for all the pictures. Here's an 'I Love You', Jeff thinks it's more of a Longhorn sign.  

The girls ask me to meet them at lunch everyday.  I've been able to go a few times. Jillian has really done better this year with being away from me. I'm sure it's because she sees her sister at lunch and frequently in the halls. Camille is thriving. She is so outgoing and loves everything about school.

Coco is super attached to me and loves to crawl all over me. It's getting a little harder to handle this big boy with my growing belly.

Jeff's dad's Uncle Jess died this month. It wasn't a surprise as he's been on the downhill for quite a few years. I've meet him twice and he is really a sincerely loving man. We made the trip up to Dallas for the service and met up with Sarah's family and the TT house who all drove over from AZ. We have sorely missed having our cousins around! 

The service was wonderful and I learned a lot about Uncle Jess. It made me ponder once again (done after Grandpa Pete's funeral) the legacy I'm leaving. I want to be remembered for my love and devotion to my family mostly. I want my friends to recall happy, funny times we've had and I really want to be remembered as a kind person.

I hit my 6 month mark at the end of the month. I've continued to workout 4-5 times a week and am feeling overall pretty good. My tailbone is the biggest problem. It hurts non-stop. I ice it frequently and on bad days have to take tylenol. I have found that it hurts whether or not I exercise so I figure it's better to do it than not. I feel about the same size as my other pregnancies but my weight is higher. Here's me and Jeff trying to be artistic with my belly shots.

June 2013

The girls finished Spring soccer and were so proud to get their trophy's. I've loved them being on the same team for my own purposes but Jill is moving up next season so it won't happen again soon.

Jeff turned 33 this year. He was happy with a low key party. He has been so busy at work that celebrating is just not on his mind lately. Here's the family after he blew his candles out.  

Jeff had to make a fast weekend trip to AZ for work stuff and a wedding. He thought it'd be fun to have Coco tag a long. Here's my tired boy on the plane.

With the boys gone we decided to have a pampering day. We got our hair cut and our nails painted. The girls loved it!

I put the girls in a summer basketball league. I was really excited about it. They were less than thrilled. They hated the practices but loved the games.  Hopefully they'll learn to love it. I really enjoyed b-ball growing up and I can help them way more in this than in soccer.

The spring this year was unbelievably perfect. It has just now started heating up enough for the pool. Jillian has really become confident in the water which makes me so happy. Here she is doing a back dive and a back flip.

I bought a little kiddie pool for Coco but can't keep everyone else out.

Here's our newest addition. I've never had a first term ultrasound. I liked seeing the little babe so early. My nausea and extreme fatigue is the only other sign I have so far that I'm pregnant. Having the ultrasound was a nice little reassurance.