Saturday, December 31, 2011

Minivan and More Shyla Pics

Here we go - another incredibly creative blog title. Goooo, me! On Wednesday, I was released from the hospital with strict rules about what I can and cannot do for the next 2 weeks. When David picked Shyla and I up, he also brought the other 3 girls. Well, we drive a small suv with only 5 seats. So Amber and Jade were forced to squish into one seat. I literally had to shove Jade in and slam the door before she fell back out. It was a very tight squeeze. For the past month, David has been trying to sell his Saab on craigslist with no luck. We were relying on the sale of his car for the money to buy a minivan and since that didn't work, David and I decided we were just going to have to trade in the Santa Fe and deal with keeping a car payment (we were soooo close to paying it off!). After dropping all of us girls off at home, David went to find us a good deal. And he did! He came home with a 2007 Chrysler Town and Country Touring model - my absolute #1 dream van! I about screamed from excitement! And not only did I get my dream van, but our payment is actually about $70 less than what we've been paying on the Santa Fe. Our interest rate went from 14.7% to 4.5% and it's only a 4yr loan. David got a warrantee to cover the length of the loan - one that covers absolutely every part of the van: the ac, power seats/windows/doors, transmission, everything, free oil changes for 2 years, and free exterior detailing every 6 months. Town and Country is known for their awesome stow n' go seating and it does totally rock! Since we need all the seats up for our family, we can use the seat storage to hold whatever we need it to. I'm so very excited to actually be able to drive it in 8 days!
David and I have owned around 13 vehicles total throughout our marriage - 7 were white. I'm sooooo glad my dream van is NOT! =)


And here's some more ultra-adorable cute pictures of our new sweet baby sister:
The nursery used something sticky - probably karo syrup - to stick the red bow on her head when they cleaned her up for me. I wish they hadn't though cause it made it difficult to breathe her baby smell... You can see in this pic how red her fuzz looks

The tail-end of a yawn



Can you see how looooong her foot is?? It's pretty hard getting them into her footie jammies!



Paisley thinks she's big stuff cause she's the only one touching Shyla =)

Monday, December 26, 2011

Baby Shyla

Early this morning, David and I snuck out of the house. Though we told Amber and Jade we were going shopping first thing in the morning, we were really headed to the hospital for a scheduled c-section! I was originally scheduled for the 30th, and when I rescheduled for today, we didn't tell the girls so we could surprise them with a new baby sister. We arrived here at the hospital at 7am, got all checked in, did a bunch of paperwork, some bloodwork, and the waited. And waited some more. Finally at 10 the nurse walked me back to the surgical room. I got my spinal and laid down on the bed. And thankfully, my arms were not strapped down nor did I have an oxygen mask on my face. I did still have a moment of panic as the spinal spread through my body paralyzing me and making it difficult to breathe, but David had given me a blessing beforehand and I think that helped a lot. I felt more focused and lucid throughout the proceedure. Especially once they let David in the room. Once I was cut open, my doctor said it's a good thing I didn't have a vbac as my uterus was "eerily thin" and could have easily ruptured with the intense labor contractions. So as frustrating as it was to not be able to go into labor myself, I'm glad in this case that I didn't. Shyla was pulled out at 10:30am and is just the sweetest baby. Her hair has a definate red tint to it and she really doesn't look much like my other 3 babies. She's so precious!
Sweet baby girl weighs 7lbs 14oz and is 22in long


After some time in the recovery room, I was taken to post-partum with Shyla. David went and picked up the girls from home, took them to lunch - I think he told them I was shopping with my friend - and brought them to the hopsital to "do a serve". He brought them into the room while I was holding Shyla and it took half a minute for them to understand what was going on. =) Paisley let out a classic Paisley squeal of delight and climbed right up on the bed to meet Shyla. It was adorable. She kept stroking Shyla's face and giving her kisses. Hope the love lasts! Amber and Jade took a turns holding her as well once they got over their shock.

So now we are officially a family of 6. Welcome, baby Shyla Beth!

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas Eve and Day in Pics

Here's a ton of pics from our wonderful holiday weekend:
The adults had a chime concert

Santa's elves delivered Christmas Eve pj's


We read The Night Before Christmas and sang Christmas songs


We must have been extra good this year cause Santa brought a LOT of fun stuff!

Like dum-dums...

A hermit crab...

Cologne...

Disney Princess dolls...

And baby things for Shyla!

Jaders got a Nintendo DS with some games

Amber framed this gorgeous artwork for David

I got a couple homemade Christmas cards from the girls.

Grandma sewed matching jackets for all the grandkids

Paisley's shopping cart

Nikki got repaired and cleaned






Happy Birthday, Nana!





Amber got her own camera! It takes stills and video!


We had a terrific time with family! Everyone got what they wanted - except Jade who did NOT get a puppy (lol) - and was very happy opening gifts. Thanks, Shelley and Greg for spending the weekend with us! We always love when you are able to. Merry Christmas, all!

Friday, December 23, 2011

A Week of December Delights

We've had a very busy week full of December fun! Let's see.... last Thursday the Andersen's came to help us decorate Christmas cookies. I made 5 dozen sugar cookies and frosting in red, white, and green. I also had sprinkles, frosting writers, and chocolate chips to use. We had a lot of fun being VERY creative!

On Friday, Dave and I kept the girls out of school and we headed to Mesa to spend the afternoon baking goodies with Nana. We made peanut brittle, more sugar cookies, and walnut fudge. Mmmmm!

I finished decorating/cleaning Shyla's room at some point.

And made yet another Rapunzel dress for one of David's co-student's daughter. I like this one the bestest.

Last night (Thursday) David and I went to the Lefler's annual Ugly Christmas Sweater party! We had such a great time. Pretty much all of our ward friends were there, the food was delicious, and the white elephant gift exchange had me almost peeing my pants from laughing so hard! Neither Dave or I won the ugly sweater contest this year, but we still had a blast! Thanks, Lefler's!

While we were partying, someone ding-dong-ditched our house and left several very heavy presents on our doorstep! We opened them up early this morning to find some food storage items, diapers for Shyla, treats, and some little presents for the girls. What a wonderful Christmas surprise! We are truly grateful to our Secret Santa for helping us get our food storage going! We are blessed.

Once we were all dressed, we had breakfast at IHOP (yeah, it's our favorite). Then Jade went with David to do court runs and serves for the day while I took Amber and Paisley to get their nails painted. Afterwards, I helped Amber hang the snowflakes they made with the babysitter last night up in her bedroom.

And now I'm all caught up....till tomorrow anyways!
Oh, one last thing. Shyla's joining us on Monday morning!!! I have a c-section scheduled for 9:30am Monday the 26th. I'm soooo excited to have her out and with us finally! But not so much for the c-section. I'm not a fan. I'd much rather not have one. But since Shyla baby's being so stubborn and not coming on her own, and I'm impatient to begin with, it's time to force her out. Look for pics on Monday! =)