Scrub-A-Dub-Dub

I don't know if I've ever mentioned that Ian is the world's best infant bath giver.  He has been the preferred bath giver with all of our babies.  They are quiet and relaxed when Ian bathes them.  He is thorough and gentle.  I hypothesize that this is because Ian values his long, hot showers and knows how to enjoy them.  He therefore knows what the baby will enjoy.  He runs warm water continuously throughout the bath so it doesn't get cold while he scrubs them down.  He then smothers the baby in lotion and puts him in his jammies.  Voila!  I am handed a clean, delicious smelling baby. 

Grandma & Papa Meet Beckett

This last weekend Ian's parents, Grandma and Papa, came to visit and meet Beckett!  They arrived on his 3 week birthday.  We had a fun lunch at In N Out with Ian and enjoyed some Sweet Tooth Fairy cakebites.  That afternoon Grandma and Papa took Weston with them and went shopping at the BYU Bookstore for some Cougar gear.  They are definitely BYU fans and were excited to be able to come during football season so they could catch a game while in town.

Talia in her cute rain coat at the Sweet Tooth Fairy

Friday night Ian and I snuck out for a quick date.  We had a great time chatting over cookies and hot chocolate at Paradise Bakery.  I miss being able to get out of the house without kiddos more, but I'm sure eventually it will get easier.  We appreciated the free babysitting!

Saturday was the BYU v. Oregon State football game.  Ian and the boys went with Grandma and Papa to the game.  They were gone most of the day and had a fun time.  I hung with the babies and watched the game from home.

 

 

 

 

Grandma and Papa came to church with us and then headed off to drive back home.  It was a quick but fun visit.  Definitely nice that Ian could be home for most of the time they were here.  Thanks for coming and playing with us Grandma and Papa!

2 1/2 Weeks

I have now been a mom of four kids for two and a half weeks.  So far the transition has been easier than when I had three kids.  Beckett is an absolute dream baby.  He rarely fusses, sleeps well, eats well, and is adorable.  He is so wide eyed and just stares around when he is awake.  He sometimes fusses more when I try to hold him when he's awake.  He prefers to lay flat on the couch or be propped up in his boppy and check stuff out.

 

The other kids are adjusting to their new baby brother well.  Davin has been fussing and inexplicably bursting into tears about small things lately, which I think is his emotional response to the changes in the house, but these little outbursts aren't too horrible and I'm trying to be patient with him and talk him through them.  Talia was a screaming horror for the first week or so, but every day she gets a little better.  She can still be really demanding and difficult, but she is mostly kind to Beckett and loves him.  She brings me diapers when I'm changing him and loves to give me his binki.

My awesome mother came and stayed with me for the whole first week after Beck was born.  It was so great having her here to run interference with the bigger kids, snuggle Beckett, help with nights/mornings, cook, clean, and keep me company.  We really had a nice week.  We took Beckett on his first outing to the mall for some baby and make-up shopping when he was 5 days old.  We had a few visitors come to the house to meet Beckett too.  Aunt Barbara and Uncle Terry brought him this adorable little lumberjack outfit.  I am definitely still missing having my mom around, but I guess I eventually had to get back to real life with my family of six.

 

 

 

 

 

The Monday after we brought Beckett home was Weston's school's Fall Carnival.  Ian took the boys.  They had a blast.  They got their faces painted (I can't get over how funny/cute it is that Davin wanted a butterfly on his face), played on the playground, enjoyed the inflatable, but spent most of their time launching rockets.  I think it was good for them to have a big kid outing after all the baby excitement.

 

 

 

 My first week on my own with the kids was busy and pretty exhausting.  I attempted to go to the grocery store on the first day.  That was a bad idea.  It was really hard.  I will be grocery shopping at night while they are in bed for the next year.  Sigh.  I am really trying to take things easy, but with 4 kids it's hard to not be busy.  Plus going anywhere is a major deal and we have had doctor's appointments, school, and errands to run.  I even attempted a "for fun" outing to the Thanksgiving Point gardens.  We just walked behind the waterfall, had a snack, then walked back to the front to buy some tulip bulbs, but it was enough.  I am trying to enjoy getting out in this gorgeous Fall weather!

 

Today is one of the few days so far that we don't have anything on the calendar, which is why I am finally blogging (in my pajamas).  Luckily Beckett is getting better at going back to sleep after he eats at night, which means I am slightly less exhausted during the day.  He even slept a 6 hour stretch last night!  There are still times when I feel a little overwhelmed and everyone needs something or the babies are both screaming, but overall I am feeling very satisfied with my busy stay at home mommy life right now.  More on that to come. . . right now I have to go get Talia off time out (for screaming, as usual) and maybe hop in the shower while Beckett is still asleep.

Meeting the Family

It took awhile to get settled into the maternity ward on Friday night and even longer before I was completely un-numbed from my epidural.  Ian stayed to do Beckett's first "bath," which was more of a wipe down than a bath, then he packed up and headed home to relieve Auntie Mel and Uncle Brad from kid duty and to get some sleep.  I actually slept pretty great that first night in the hospital too. 

Saturday morning I took a shower and got ready to introduce Beckett to his brothers and sister!  He was excited.  I could tell.  :)  Ian brought the kids to the hospital and the next couple hours were pretty chaotic.  Hospital rooms just aren't made for preschooler/toddler exploration.  Talia was mostly just excited to see me.  We snuggled and I fed her all my snacks while Weston and Davin took turns holding their new baby brother.  They were both really excited to meet him and had practiced saying his name at home. 

 

 

 

 

 

 Finally I put Talia in the rocking chair and gave her her brother.  She was kind of speechless for a minute staring at him then she looked up at us and smiled.  It was too cute.  She didn't want me to take him from her for awhile after that.  I was glad that she liked holding him and didn't try to maul him or anything.  I had my concerns.  We managed to take a family pic in the hospital with our new family of six!

 Bowles Baby Trivia . . . can you tell which Bowles baby is which?

 

At the end of the kids' visit Mel and Brad arrived with my mom!  They had picked her up from the airport and come straight to the hospital.  This was the first time I have had any of my sisters close enough to visit my baby in the hospital.  It was really fun to have Mel and Brad there and they were so great to help out with the kids while we were having Beckett on Friday (I can't believe I didn't get a picture of them with Beck!).  And, of course, my awesome mom came to stay with me for the week and help out.  She's the best.

By the time everyone left I was ready for a nap!  Ian came back that afternoon to hang out with me.  And I had some more visitors that night.  My friends from my old ward came to see Beckett and chat.  It was fun. 

As much as I love having people care enough to come and see me in the hospital I also loved the quiet hours I got to spend with Ian and Beckett before we had to go home to our actual busy, loud life. 

 

 

 Saturday night was rough with Beckett being more fussy and nurses needing labs and vitals and to give me more meds.  I didn't get much sleep.  Once Ian got back in the morning on Sunday I finally settled in for a good nap.  We spent Sunday quietly enjoying our new baby before checking out in the late afternoon.  Beckett looked so cute in his dinosaur outfit coming home.  So happy to have Beckett as a part of our family.  Now it's time to start adjusting to our new normal. 

 

A Baby Story

We have a baby!  Here's the story.  Friday, September 21st was the big day.  I went in at 9am to be induced.  It was pretty relaxed.  We got checked in and settled then they started my GBS antibiotic and some low dose pitocin.  I started having regular contractions but they weren't super painful.  I was only dilated to a 3 and baby's head was still really high, so I spent a few hours with higher pitocin trying to get the baby's head to be lower so that Angela (my midwife) could break my water.  Finally in the afternoon I got an epidural.  It was the least painful epidural insertion I've had.  I wasn't in a ton of pain, but Angela suggested getting the epidural before she broke my water, which was a really good call. 

One last snuggle with Talia before leaving for the hospital

 

After the epidural the baby's head still wasn't low enough to break my water, so they upped my pitocin even more and that helped.  Angela broke my water around 3:30 and placed an internal electronic fetal heart monitor that we were testing out for the hospital as part of a research study.  I'm really glad that we decided to participate because having the more accurate heart data for baby was helpful as he didn't tolerate contractions well after my water broke.  His heart rate kept dipping with each contraction.  Probably because the cord was in a place that was being squished with each contraction. 

They found a position for me that seemed to help a little, so I was laying all the way back slightly tilted to the left with an oxygen mask.  Not the most comfortable, but it was ok.  My epidural wasn't blocking the pain as contractions got worse, so I decided to have the anesthesiologist re-dose me.  This helped with the pain, but made me very very numb.  I couldn't move at all.  Just when Angela was starting to get nervous that baby's heart rate wasn't improving (she was getting ready to call in the doctors she works with) I told her I was ready to push.  This was around 5:30. 

Luckily Angela had things all set up so I got to work.  I didn't have to push too long, but I did have to push pretty hard.  Our sweet baby was born at 5:42pm.  I immediately got to hold him and they took his vitals and Ian cut the cord while he was on my chest.  I loved having this immediate contact with him!  We decided to name our baby Beckett Lawrence.  He weighed in at 6lbs. 10oz. (our smallest baby!) and was 19.5 inches long.  He cried at birth for about 10 minutes, then after getting cleaned up was quiet as can be and wide awake.  We had some skin to skin time and he nursed for a good 40 minutes.  I've never had a newborn nurse like that!  Then he just looked around while we oogled him. 

 

 

 I don't know if it is because he is my last baby or what, but I was so much more emotional at his birth.  I don't usually cry, but I just couldn't help tearing up as I snuggled this sweet little boy and held my husband's hand.  It was really special.  What a great experience!

Beckett is still just the sweetest, mellowest baby.  Very much like Weston as a baby.  He is by far my best nurser.  He sleeps great and at his weight check yesterday was already up to 6lbs. 13oz.!  I am absolutely smitten with this new little man and am feeling very very blessed to be his mommy.

I Heart My Family

Obviously I wouldn't be having another baby if I didn't already kind of like the kids I have, but I really do love them oh so much.  They make me laugh (most of the time) and sometimes I just watch them and my heart feels like it's going to pop.  Other times I wish I could donate them to D.I.  Or at least to their grandparents for a week or two. 

Our new morning routine involves me getting up before 7am every day for the first time in years.  It's still kind of rough, but I like being up in the morning with my kiddos.  I make Weston breakfast (and usually lunch because I'm lazy at night) and chat with him while we eat, then we have family prayer and I walk him outside and watch him walk to the bus stop. 

Then I come inside and do the same thing with the littler ones.  Talia is asserting her big girl-ness these days and wanting to eat at the table instead of in her high chair.  It's fine when Weston's not home, but we are going to need another chair pretty quickly.  Although the novelty of eating in a big chair seems to help her stay and eat more. 

After breakfast Davin usually disappears to the basement and his Lego's for an hour or so while Talia squeals for a "show."  She is finally big enough that she doesn't freak out if I disappear for a shower during her morning Baby Einstein.  Which makes this mama happy.  The other day though Talia asked for Elmo, so I turned on a Sesame Street Alphabet DVD.  It attracted Davin and they ended up both wanting to relax on their blankets while they watched.  It was adorable.  Nothing starts a great day like Sesame Street and chocolate milk, not if you are 4 or under anyway.

This last Friday evening we spent some time at Farm Country.  Talia loves the horses and chickens and ducks and bunnies.  The boys mostly like playing in the harvesting exhibit, but they also nervously enjoy a pony ride.  It was a gorgeous, warm night and we had some good family time.  I like the kids, but I like Ian even more.  He's pretty much awesome and I'm always glad when he can hang out with us. 

(Can you tell I followed Talia around the farm while the boys played in the exhibit?)

Speaking of loving this cute family of mine . . . we are adding to it.  Soon!  We have had some major insurance stresses over the last couple of weeks, but it's official that I am now going to be delivering at a different hospital than all the other kids were born at.  I just met my new midwife today.  She's not my fun, bubbly, empathetic Vicky, but she's nice and personable and will be there on Friday to induce me if I don't go into labor before then. 

 

I will be 39 weeks tomorrow.  Even though I am ready to be done being pregnant I'm kind of amazed that we will be having a baby this week.  I can't wait to snuggle my newest little baby boy.  We will keep the blog updated, so check back for any baby news and to find out what Baby Bowles #4 will be named!