Let it snow...

My parents came up to visit us this weekend. They happened to hit our first large snow storm of the year! We went to Northstar on Saturday before the storm came in. We spent several hours watching the kids ice skate and drinking coffee by the outdoor fireplaces. It was pretty cold but we bundled little Emma up and she slept the whole time!

 

On Sunday my parents were going to leave after church. It started snowing while we were in service. We hurried home so they could leave right away. They made it up to Truckee were the road was closed due to many accidents and were turned around. They came back to our house and ended up spending another night. When we woke up this morning there was over a foot of snow on the ground. My parents put chains on their tires and left again. They returned 10 minutes later because the visiablity was so bad. So they are here for one more night and are leaving tomorrow.

 The kids played all afternoon in the snow with the neighbor kid. They were making snow forts and shoveling driveways. It is beautiful here when there is snow on the ground. I went out with Joshua this afternoon and I did a little practice driving in the snow since I am not very comfortable with it yet. It is suppose to be super cold tonight and the rest of the week so our snow should stick around for awhile. Hopefully this is the start to a great snow season!!

 

Love,
Katie

4 Weeks Old and Growing!

Emma turned 4 weeks on Saturday. We saw the midwife on Friday and she was weighed. She now weighs 10 lbs. 10 oz. and is 21 inches long! She has gained an ounce a day since she was born! You can see all her rolls in the bath pictures from last week. She is a big baby compared to the other kids and has quite an appetite! She has a little cold right now so if you think of her pray that she would heal quickly so we can all get some sleep!

So Sweet....

I asked Cameron to watch Emma while Rosie and I were upstairs. I could hear singing downstairs and when I came down this is what I found.



If you have received this by email you will have to go to the actual blog to see the video. To do this just click on the blue links in your blog. It is kind of long but funny to see what Cameron has picked up from us!

Love,
Katie

Beautiful Emma

I have been playing around with my camera this week. I just love these pictures and can't wait to hang them in my house!! It is fun to have my own newborn to practice on and each time we do a little session I learn something new. Yesterday she wiped out every blanket I put her on within seconds! It was pretty funny.

Enjoy!!

Emma's First Week

This week has flown by compared to the week before Emma's birth. Everyone just wants to hold her all the time and she is rarely put down.

 

We are figuring out her sleep schedule which goes something like this...
Hold me I sleep, put me down I won't sleep.
I won't sleep in my cradle beside your bed but I will sleep just fine in Mommy's arms in bed!!

We actually have been sleeping pretty good, my back is just extremly kinked up!

We have spent all week at home as I have not felt up to leaving the house yet. I did do my first outing with all three kids to Rosie's volleyball practice because Joshua got called into work. We also took a family trip to Target this morning to pick up a few needed baby things. We are going to attempt church tomorrow so we will see how that goes.

Both sets of Grandparents were here on Thursday to see Emma and Matt and Erin came today with the kids.

It is so precious to have a little one in the house again . The kids are really loving having a baby sister and Rosie has taken charge of the diaper changes if she is around. Now we just need time to slow down!

 

Love,
Katie

Emma's Birth

I received my pictures a few nights ago of Emma's birth from my friend Fawn. They are so precious and I wish I could share them all with you! Here are a few of my favorites and the story of Emma's birth....

By Thursday of last week I was pretty desperate to have her. I was a week and a half overdue and so ready to be done with the pregnancy. I had a midwife appointment that day and Josh and I discussed our options with Diane. We decided that the least invasive and most pleasant thing to try would be just to have her sweep my membranes. That has about a 50/50 chance of working. We walked out very hopeful that maybe this would cause labor to start sometime soon!

By Friday afternoon I was pretty frustrated again because nothing was happening. I wasn't even having the Braxton Hicks that I had been consistently having for several days. My mom and I did school with the kids that morning, I took a nap in the afternoon, and then Joshua treated me to a massage at a spa that evening. It was a prenatal massage and the lady worked on a few pressure points as well.

We came home relaxed but not in labor! I took a bath, and then Joshua and I were resting in our bedroom while the kids were watching a movie with Grandma. As we were laying there I had a contraction and the we both heard and felt a large pop! I have never had my water break at the start of labor but I was pretty sure that was what just happened! It is a pretty wild sensation and it was pretty funny that Joshua could hear it as well! That happened around 8:15.

Once we were sure that is was my water we told the kids and my mom and then called Diane the midwife. She came over and checked me around 9:00 but I wasn't really having any contractions yet. She told us to go to bed and get some sleep and then she left to do the same. We tucked the kids in bed and then headed to bed ourselves. It was around 10:00 and the contractions were just starting to come but were bearable. I thought I might be able to sleep through them but as soon as I lay down I realized that probably wasn't going to happen. I got up, leaving Josh to continue sleeping and headed downstairs to visit with mom and watch some TV.

By 11:00 I decided that this was really starting to hurt and sent Mom to wake up Josh. He came down and I burst in to tears! I knew there wasn't any turning back now. I got in the bathtub and Josh made phone calls to the midwife and my friends who were attending the birth. Diane showed up about 11:30 and at that time I was in the tub still able to breath through the contractions.

 

From that point on it became very intense and the contractions just were just coming one on top of another. I was no longer able to breath through them and couldn't get comfortable in the tub. They had started to fill the birthtub but when Diane checked me a little after midnight I was already 8-9 cm. With the intensity of the contractions and how quickly I was dilating it was obvious that I was not going to get to use the birthtub. I was ready to push within minutes. I tried getting back in the tub and was trying different positions but nothing was making me happy!!

We moved to the birthing ball but that wasn't going well either. Diane finally convinced me to try lying on my side on the bed. I knew that laying down was my least favorite position but finally was convinced to try it. As I lay on my side the contractions slowed and I was finally able to get a little relief between pushing contractions. Diane later told me that when I started pushing Emma was a -5 so I had a lot of work to do to bring her down. After awhile I tried standing again and that seemed to make all the difference. Emma came right on down and before I knew it she had crowned.

And then she was stuck.

I was waiting for another contraction and Diane asked me to get on the bed. I was thinking there was no way I could do that!! Joshua was realizing that the situation was getting serious the longer we waited for another contraction so he picked me up and fell on the bed with me. Diane was then able to free one shoulder and then the other and finally little Emma slipped on out. She was born at 1:20.

 

Joshua was able to catch her and I was immediately trying to see what she was! I asked what "what is she?" and Josh answered "of course she is a girl!" as I was checking between her legs:-). Joshua handed her to me and I was so happy to be done and to be holding my baby girl. The labor and delivery was nothing like I had experienced with the other kids. It was very intense and fast. The only thing that kept me going was that I knew it was going so fast that it would soon be over!!

 

 

 

Diane guessed that she was at least 9 pounds and sure enough when she was weighed she was 9 pounds. I was shocked because I had no idea she was that big. I thought she would be smaller than what Cameron was and would be in the upper 7lb. range. Diane determined that she was definitely a week and a half overdue so that is probably where she plumped up!

 

 

 

Both Cameron and Rosie were at the birth. Cameron was very disappointed to find out it was a girl and immediately started crying. He said "Now I have no one to play lego's with!" He quickly got over his tears and was very excited to hold her and touch her. He was my little companion for the next couple of days and wanted to be right were she was.

I was thankful to have my mom attend my birth as well my close friends Fawn and Christy. Christy had also had a homebirth with Diane and was a huge help at the birth. Fawn was there to take the pictures for us. We had called Josh's mom and sister as soon as I was sure I was in labor and they drove over from Chico. They missed the birth by about 40 minutes but were soon here and making soup in the middle of the night for our meal the next day!

 

 

 

I loved having a home birth and being able to cuddle down in my own bed with my baby after it was all done. It didn't go exactly as I had planned and there certainly no time for music and candles but being able to try different positions and do what I wanted to do was so nice. I felt much less in control with this labor and I am certain all the neighborhood could hear me as I worked through each contraction very loudly!

Everyone cleared out and went home about 3:30. Josh's mom and sister crashed on the downstairs couch and Joshua took the upstairs couch. Emma and I cuddled in bed and she immediately went to slept. The next thing I knew I woke up as the sun was rising and my beautiful baby girl was wide awake and staring up at me. Such a precious memory.

We have been adjusting to life with a new born with the typical sleepless nights. Hopefully soon Emma will sleep in her cradle and Joshua won't have to sleep on the couch anymore! We all love holding her and she is rarely put down. I often have to fight the kids for my turn to hold her! Rosie is loving being a little mom and is already changing diapers and swaddling her. Yesterday Rosie went through all the hand me down clothes we have received and sorted them and put them away for me. She can't wait to dress her in all the different outfits.

Joshua is completely in love and always holding her. As soon as he hears her cry he is right there to soothe her. We are so blessed and thankful for Emma. She has been many years in the making and we are so happy to have her here with us. She is beautiful and I can't believe how much I already love her. I just want time to slow down so we can savor every moment with her.

You can see more of Emma's Birth Pictures by clicking here.

Rosie's Blog

Rosie has started her own blog about her new baby sister. Check it out! I have also added it to the side of my own blog so it is easy to check in on it. Her blog is called Sniktaw Sister.

A friend of mine attended the birth to document the event for us (she is also my wedding assistant!). She will be dropping off the pictures later today and then I will post more about Emma's birth. It was great as well as a little crazy:-)

Love,
Katie