Baby Eliza is here!

Elizabeth Carissa was born yesterday at 12:29 pm, and she's just beautiful! She's 7 lbs., 10 oz., and 19 1/2", with a full head of dark hair and big blue eyes. The labor and delivery couldn't have gone better -- I only had to push through one contraction and she popped right out!

I feel great! I've been able to get some good rest, and I haven't had too much pain at all. Eliza is doing wonderful -- she just got a clean bill of health from the pediatrician and she's been nursing like a pro. She's a strong one, too; she's already holding her head up and trying to look around! Thank you so much to everyone who has sent us their good thoughts and prayers. We couldn't have asked for a more wonderful experience!

Amy brought the boys to meet Eliza soon after she was born, and they were both so excited! They got to watch through the window of the nursery while she got cleaned up and checked out, and the they had so much fun holding her and giving her kisses. They are both proud big brothers! Joshy has been having a hard time with us being gone, but he is just totally enamored with his new baby. We just need to help him learn to be a little more gentle -- he is VERY enthusiastic in his loves! Sammy is just the sweetest, tenderest big brother you could imagine, and I'm very proud of him.

Dan and I came home with baby Eliza at about 7 this evening and we've just been relaxing. Eliza's been super sleepy today, so hopefully she'll still sleep tonight! As soon as I get this posted I am going to bed myself! Here are the pictures from our camera, but there are a ton more really cute ones that my dad took in this Facebook album:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35631&l=7bbff&id=640917606

My last day of being pregnant!

The song "One Day More" from Les Mis has been running through my head all day -- that's right, tomorrow is the day Eliza will be joining our family! I've never been induced before, and I'm finding it rather trippy to know that she'll be here tomorrow, but we're all so excited! Check back here soon for pics of our newest addition to the family!

Capturing the Olympic Spirit!

Sammy and I have really enjoyed watching the Olympics together, and today he had a great time setting up an Olympic obstacle course in the backyard. One of his big dreams is to be a track star, and we call him Mr. Superfast. I don't know if "dream" is the proper term, since in his mind he's already there, but this boy loves to run! I thought his obstacle course was very creative, and I thought it was very fun that it started out as a 1-lap race and grew to about 10 laps because he just didn't want to quit!

From Sammy:
My olipics are fun and I wan it twise!
I made a jump slide, a jump over, a balince-beem, I had to kic a ball, I had to run alot, and it's well olipicstastick!
love y'all.
love sammy!



When he finally was ready to stop, he was totally gratified when I informed him he'd won the gold medal! (We bought a bag of these as a party favor when he turned three and they've really come in handy a lot!) We had our own little medal ceremony and he's been wearing it proudly ever since.



Thursday's baby update -- Still not going much of anywhere! I did get upgraded to an "Eh, 2 or 3 cm..." instead of just 2 at my appointment, so that was a bright spot! Ah, well -- can't be more than 5 more days, at any rate!

A busy few days!

Lots of doings for our family over the weekend! On Saturday my aunt Gae and her daughters Tiffany and Becky threw me a most wonderful baby shower -- such a mountain of pink and frilly things I have never seen! I felt so special that so many of my friends and family were able to come and did so much to celebrate baby Eliza's coming.

I had been having contractions all day, so we decided that it was time for us ladies to go bowling and see if we could get them to turn into something productive! I was pretty proud of myself -- I bowled a 147 and a 166. Not bad for an almost 9 months pregnant lady! We had a grand old time, and afterwards we went to Wingers and then to see the musical version of Pride and Prejudice. My review? P&P was just never meant to be turned into a musical. Mr. Darcy should NOT burst into song -- surely it's beneath his dignity. All during dinner and for the first part of the show I was having regular contractions every 5 minutes, getting stronger all the time, and I was thinking 'GREAT! I'm not even going to make it to intermission!' But then they stopped cold -- boo! But the day was really fun anyway!

The biggest news on Sunday was that Eric and Leanne FINALLY welcomed their baby into the world, and IT'S A GIRL! Poor Leanne was in labor for way over 24 hours and ended up having to have a C-section, but she and baby Amelia are doing just great. YAY! Sunday we also had a fun birthday dinner for Toby -- I love this picture of Chan helping her blow out her candles. Happy birthday, Toby!



And Monday, in an effort to get the ball rolling again, my mom and the boys and I headed off to the bowling alley once more. (Hey, it helped put me into labor with Sammy!) I thought it would be so cool if I had the baby on Monday -- then Eliza and Amelia could be twousins! (That's twin-cousins, as in with the same birthday. Sometimes I'm so clever I amaze myself.) The boys were SO excited that they actually got to bowl in real life (as opposed to the Wii), and we all had a blast. I did NOT bowl as well as Saturday and also didn't get any contractions going, but it was just as fun. :) Afterwards my mommy treated me to a pedicure, so now (according to Sammy) my toes are as pretty as pretty can be. (Make sure you check out the videos -- they're too funny!)

Today (well, I guess it's yesterday now) I decided to give up all my extracurricular activities and just be patient, since my body has obviously decided it doesn't want to have this baby at the moment after all. So here it is, almost 3 in the morning on Wednesday, and I'm updating my blogs because I can't sleep because of (doo-doo-DOO!) contractions. They're not very strong or regular yet, but who knows? Maybe they'll lead to something. They're at least enough to keep me awake...


Wednesday morning update: Still here -- back to your lives, citizens... :)

$2 Tuesday at the Dinosaur Museum!

So Thanksgiving Point has an awesome dinosaur museum, but it's usually pretty expensive to go. This month, however, they have $2 admission every Tuesday! Toby Blake (my SIL Ann's sister) and I thought it would be a great idea to take the kids for a fun outing. So, apparently, did every other family in Utah Valley! It was crazy -- we waited in line for 40 minutes just to get in, and there was hardly room to move inside. But it was worth it because the boys had a wonderful time. Chandler (Toby's oldest) and Sammy are such great friends; it's truly a joy to watch them together. Joshy and Thomas are starting to be a little more interested in each other, too, but I think at this point each boy still hero-worships the other's older brother more! Joshy always wants to know if Chan will be wherever we're going, and I've seen Thomas follow Sammy around going "Sammy, guess what! Sammy, guess what!" And both my boys just love Anna. I think she's helped them get ready for having a little sister! I really enjoyed getting out of the house and getting to hang out with Toby for the morning. I'm so glad we have Toby and her family in our family!

Anyhoo, back to the dino museum. The boys were in awe of all the giant skeletons, and they really got into all the hands-on exhibits. Joshy was a little freaked out by the dark spaces (like a room that was supposed to make you feel like you were walking in space), but he really loved the erosion table and digging in the sand. Sammy was most excited about the giant shark and was really disappointed that he wasn't allowed to climb in its mouth!

Here's Sammy's report on our fun day at the museum:
It was a fun day at the dino museum. I went with chan {Tobys oldest} to the museum. my favret part was digging. I am with buster {My oldest} writing my blog!
I ate greldcheese for din-din get it din-din?
I am verry verry happy!
I love yu'all.
bet you all will be verry verry happy of this.
Love sammy.

Back to me:
Today's baby update: I had another doctor's appointment this morning and was disappointed to find out that I hadn't changed at all since last week. I was hoping I'd have something to show for the week of painful contractions (like, a baby)! But alas and alack, I suppose I'll have to continue to be patient. I guess my body took me seriously when I said I didn't want to have the baby before the shower tomorrow! I'll be 38 weeks tomorrow, so I really could have a ways to go yet. I just didn't have this much contraction-type activity going on so long in advance with either of the boys, so it seems like things should be happening!

I'm also okay with not going yet because Eric and Leanne STILL haven't had their baby! They were due last Sunday, but nothing is happening yet. I've never been overdue, so I can't even imagine how crazy that would make me. Sending you labor-y thoughts, Leanne!