Pictures from the last 4 weeks

What a month it has been! I can't believe Lucy is already a month old (tomorrow). Here's the thing about life with kids...when you add another to the mix, all of a sudden you can't remember life before that time. I don't remember what life was like with just one, and I can barely remember what life with two was like now. It may just be me, I have a really bad memory!

Grandma Debbie visited for a week and Grandpa Gary came for a few days as well. The older girls LOVED having them here and talk about seeing them again...they can't wait for the next visits with grandparents. We head to Coeur d'Alene next week and the girls are giddy about seeing Grandma Barb and Grandpa John. They have lots of plans in their heads!

Lucy is such a good baby. She does fuss a bit, but that's because she LOVES to be held and have attention. She is a snugly little girl just like her big sister, Isabelle. She eats well and packed on a full pound between birth and her two week checkup. Since it has been two more weeks since then she has of course, continued to grow and change every day. She sleeps pretty well. Most nights I have to get up twice to feed her. The first time is in the middle of the night, the second time is more around 6 am. Last night however she slept from about 10:30 pm-4:30 am which was great! The only problem is, I woke up at 3:30 wondering when she was going to wake up! Still, I am coping alright with the sleep I am getting. Some days are better than others!

I survived Travis going back to work (which I was dreading for days prior to his return) (Adobe gives dads TWO WEEKS PAID PATERNITY LEAVE. I LOVE ADOBE!). I have also survived my first trip to Wal-mart and Costco (on two different days) with three kids. And yesterday I even took the girls to the Alpine splash park with friends. Still, I would much rather stay home than have to go out with them all without help...because it is EXHAUSTING!

Below are a ton of pics taken over the last 4 weeks...they are NOT in any kind of order.




As you can see, the girls LOVE Lucy and can't get enough of holding her! The transition for them has been much easier than I anticipated *sigh of relief* Kids really are resilient and adjust easily. At least our girls seem to with change and I am super grateful for that! In my head the adjustment was going to be awful and hard on all of us. I think the only person it has been "hard" for is me. And that's just because it's difficult to enjoy a sweet baby when you are trying to recover from giving birth and don't feel so well. (And let's not forget all the raging hormone levels that are all out of whack!) I felt immense joy to have my baby here, but it was hard to enjoy feeling so crummy. Either I had forgotten what it was like the first two times, or this time around it really was harder to recover. I'm not sure which is the case.

Riley reading to Lucy. How cute is that?! Lucy was just chillin on the floor so Riley sat down to read to her. She even read the book upside down so Lucy could see it right side up. lol. Riley is reading SO well it's unbelievable!
Grandma Debbie visited for a week and here she is with our three girls!
Her shirt says "I'll always be daddy's little girl"

Izzy with Aunt Maria at Katie's 1st birthday party







A friend who recently started up a photography business took some newborn pictures of Lucy for us. This is one of them. Check out others at his website!
Her onesie says "Miss Marvelous" I love it!

Izzy can't give Lucy enough kisses. So loving!

Lucy had high bilirubin levels for a few days after birth. We had to take her back to the hospital THREE times and it was stressful to me because my other girls levels were never anywhere near as high as Lucy's were. The above photo is her "sun bathing" in hopes that we could help bring her levels down quicker :) Fortunately on her fourth screening, the number had started to go down, a move in the right direction!

More photos to come in the coming weeks! IF I survive our road trip with three kids, that is!

Better Late Than Never

The past 2 1/2 weeks have been a blur. Before I forget too many more details, I wanted to post Lucy's Birth Story.

I really wanted MY DOCTOR to be the one to deliver Lucy, not just whichever doc from the office was the one on-call. So my doctor put me on his schedule to be induced May 26th.
I received a phone call on Tuesday, the 24th from the hospital wanting to give me details for my induction the next day. I was like, wait...I am being induced Thursday, not tomorrow! So they said alright, no problem, and put me on Thursday's schedule and said they would call me the next afternoon with details for Thursday. Then that whole evening I was so depressed thinking, "Darn! I should have just said okay to having this baby a day earlier!" but my doctor definitely had me on his schedule for Thursday and I didn't want to mess anything up! Not to mention at that point I was still really *hoping* to go into labor on my own before being called in to be induced.
Wednesday afternoon the hospital called back to tell me I was 7th on the waiting list of women to be induced. At that moment I was SUPER FRUSTRATED because sometimes they make it through the list and other days they don't if they get busy with women in true labor on their own. Plus I was thinking I wouldn't have been 7th on Thursday's waiting list if the hospital had just had me scheduled the right day to begin with!
The one good thing about being down there on the list was that I would be able to go to the girls' preschool graduation Thursday morning (post on that coming soon). Leaving preschool graduation (10:40 am) I called Labor and Delivery to see how things were going. They had told me to call and check if I wanted. Much to my disappointment I was told they had 5 women come in that morning who were in labor on their own. I was now 3rd on the waiting list but there was a woman who was priority due to a medically necessary reason to be induced. With how busy Labor and Delivery was, the nurse told me just to keep my cell phone handy (DUH!) and call back around 2pm to see if things had slowed down. I was SO BUMMED. So we (Travis, the girls, and I) all headed to lunch. (I had been told to have a light breakfast...and if things were really slow and I hadn't been called in to go ahead and have a light lunch as well) but I was so disappointed with the update I had just received I said the heck with it, my light breakfast had been light and I was starving. We went to Pizza Pie Cafe and I ate to my heart's desire, sort of. I didn't over-do it, but I sure enjoyed what I could fit in my stomach :)

We hadn't been home from lunch ten minutes when I received a call from Labor and Delivery (12:32 pm) telling me they would like me to be there between 1 and 1:15! The craziness began! I was trying to get in touch with my friend Brooke who was taking the girls, calling my sisters to let them know since they would be attending the delivery, and letting a few others know as well! Travis left home to take the girls to Brooke's house and I headed to check into the hospital alone.

I got there and was taken to my L&D room and told to get my hospital gown on and wait for my nurse. That part seemed to take the longest of the whole day! Really it was probably about 20 minutes, but I was just hanging out alone in the room still. Once the nurse came in she started to take some history and whatnot and Alyce showed up. Yay for company! The nurse put my IV in and left. When she came back she said that two more women had just showed up in labor and if my IV hadn't been in already, they would have sent me home. YIKES. My doctor came right in and broke my water just to make it definite that I wasn't going anywhere! I was his last patient to fit in that day! I was really only about 3cm at that point...so now it was time to wait. Maria showed up around 2 (Travis still wasn't there). So it was just us girls hanging out. That was also when I was given my first dose of my antibiotic since I am always Group B Strep positive. That means I had to have two doses before the baby was born. The second dose can be given 4 hours after the first. So my nurse said I could have my second dose at 6pm and deliver at 6:01 as long as the second dose had been administered. Though I knew it wasn't likely to be that quick...my past experiences told me that...

Travis showed up soon after that and when the doctor came in and checked me he moved the baby's head to let more amniotic fluid out and that helped. I was only at about 4cm. He told me not to wait too long to get my epidural. I wanted to wait as long as I could. I think around 5 I told my nurse I was ready for it and she let anesthesia know. I received the epidural and the nurse turned the pitocin up. The epidural was heaven. I had one with both Riley and Isabelle's births and had great birth experiences but I had been SO nervous about having the epidural again. Once I got it done, I was so relieved and my body felt SO relaxed. I was able to relax and let the pitocin work it's magic while I didn't feel any more pain! My nurse had to go assist with the delivery of her other patient (she was assigned to two ladies in labor). She told me that when she came back she would put in my catheter. Oh joy. We were just sort of waiting around, time was moving pretty fast for me. And before I know it, it's after 6 and past time for my second dose of antibiotic and we haven't seen my nurse, I haven't gotten the catheter put in...and I am watching the baby's heart rate on the monitor. It was slowing down a bit and making me nervous. So I pushed the call button and told the person on the other end that I wanted my second dose of antibiotics and that I hadn't seen my nurse in awhile. A different nurse came in and gave me my antibiotics and said my nurse would be in shortly to check on me. Good!! I hope she hurries! Was all I could think. Sure enough, she came in, asked if I was feeling some pressure and I said, I guess so...maybe. But also that I wasn't sure because I wanted to be feeling pressure so maybe it was all in my head. She checked me and sure enough goes, "You're ready to have a baby." WHOA. I was not expecting that! She told me she was going to get the doctor...but not MY doctor, he had stepped out to catch his son's soccer game. NO!!!! ha ha It didn't matter at that point of course, but I felt a little disappointment. The doctor on-call came in, got everything ready, put in the catheter to drain my bladder and then told me to push with a contraction. Everyone was really encouraging. I had my nurse at my right leg and Travis at my left. Alyce was down behind the doctor on my left (doctor's right) and Maria was down at my right. And there I was, pushing. The only thing I remember is that I was pushing and a few tears were running down my face. I am not sure if it was from the pushing or just the emotionally charged moment of it all. I am sure that it was from the emotions because I remember thinking...I feel nothing physically, maybe I am not pushing hard enough and so I was trying to push harder. The other thing I remember is that I was focused on Maria's face. She was just smiling and nodding her head, encouraging me. Everyone was encouraging me but I was focused on Maria. I could tell things were happening even though I couldn't actually feel anything.

Two contractions of pushing is all it took and Ta-Da! Lucy Kate Anderson had entered the world at 6:49 pm. (Earlier than I thought it would happen.) Our third baby girl, my third delivery that was awesome....and everything was great! I feel so lucky to have had such good births. I love my birth experiences and say I would do it ten times if it weren't for the pregnancy and actually having to raise the children! Don't get me wrong, I love my girls but it isn't easy and I know I am not cut out to have 6 kids! We all have our limits.

My doctor walked in just after Lucy had been weighed. (Yes, he only missed the delivery by probably 5 minutes--sad!!) But the delivering doctor was great and I have no complaints! Lucy weighed 6 pounds 2 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. (Riley had been 6 pounds 9 ounces, 18 inches....Izzy was 6 pounds 14 ounces and I think 19 inches) So Lucy was my lightest but longest baby. I remember Travis telling me she had hair like Izzy (meaning it was light-like Izzy's was at birth) but she had a lot more hair than Izzy had. Also I remember Travis saying she "definitely has an Odasso nose". My sisters say they loved the experience and so I am glad I shared it with them. Big sisters showed up within an hour to see baby sister and both were smitten at first sight.

Tomorrow is the day!

Stay tuned, I am scheduled to be induced sometime tomorrow. Although let's be honest, "scheduled" is being used loosely here, as I am 7th on the list...I think the nurse who called me used the term "on-call". Basically, I am on call and when they call me, I gotta get myself to the hospital promptly. It could be 7 am, it could be 2pm...but it SHOULD happen as long as there isn't some sort of crazy baby boom. Also, any of the other ladies before me could go into labor before the morning, or could decide to put it off a few days, or I COULD GO INTO LABOR. *wishing really hard!!* The good news is if you go into labor, they won't turn you away! I have to be CLOSE, right?!

But a couple weeks ago my doctor promised me it would happen, no matter how late in the day it may be.

Big, big changes! Lots of excitement. Ready or not...we are about to be a family of FIVE.

I will try to post something within a day or two. And facebook will definitely have updates :)

Riley's new 'do and a little bit about her at 4 1/2

A little over two weeks ago Riley got her hair cut. Back in September she got 6 inches cut off and ever since, she has been asking to get more cut. Well, in 7 months it had definitely grown back a few inches and I had been contemplating chopping it because it was so hard to brush through every day. She just has that kind of hair that tangles easily. So we chopped about 7 inches off! She loves it and we love it. It definitely makes her look older.


SO cute!! And so much easier to deal with, for the most part. Happy kid, happy mom.

Riley is at a fascinating age. She and I definitely butt heads, but I think that's because she is probably a lot like me.

She is reading really well. I think she will likely be ahead of many of the kids in her kindergarten class in the fall. Yep, she is going to be starting kindergarten, OH MY GOSH! Where did the last (almost) 5 years go?!

She got into a charter school that is really close to our home and I am so excited for her. I have heard a lot of great things about this place and I like that there is parent involvement and that the kids wear uniforms. I have pretty much got her wardrobe completed for the upcoming school year with a few exceptions. Fortunately I have been able to find most of the things at second hand stores and sales which has saved us A TON of money. She still needs some long sleeved polos, tights/socks, and new shoes...but that should be about it.

One thing I love about Riley is her drive to learn. She is so inquisitive and it is amazing to me. She will read or hear a word and ask me what it means. Then, the best part is that she will incorporate that word into her vocabulary as much as she can. Recently she read the word "impressed" in a book and asked about the meaning of that word. I have since heard her use it countless times. She asks all the time if I am "impressed" with things she does and I overhear her telling Izzy to help her with things to "impress Mom". Genius. I love it! Just tonight the word she heard was "task" and she wanted to know what it meant. Then she listed all sorts of things that are "tasks" that she is supposed to do around the house.

Also a few months ago I bought a separate small notebook for each girl that I keep in my purse. I started to write down all of the hilarious things they say. I regret not starting this sooner because I know there are so many things I have already forgotten, but at least I am recording these things now (when I remember to record them).

Tonight as I was drying her hair, she looked at me and asked, "Do you love me?" And I responded, "Yes! I love you SO much!" Then she said, "But sometimes, I do bad things to Izzy." (what she meant is that she isn't always a very nice big sister...) and I said, "But I still love you!" It was a cute moment. She has become more loving toward me lately...even if she doesn't listen to me as well or as often as I would like.

Riley loves to color, draw, try to spell and write things, play games including on the Wii (which I don't really love, because she gets REALLY upset about not winning and I am trying to teach her that it's not about winning, it's about having fun). She also loves to sing and dance around. She unfortunately LOVES to sit and watch cartoons a little too much...but because she is also so driven to learn, I am sometimes okay with it because she learns new words from shows.

Another funny story is that on Mother's Day at church she drew a picture of a girl and a boy with hearts all around them. My initial thought (since it was Mother's Day) was, "Oh, how sweet! She drew a picture of me and Travis" for me. But just to be sure, I asked, "Riley, who is in this picture?" Her reply, "Me and daddy!" Of course...I should have known because the boy, I KNEW was Travis with the way she drew spiky hair...and had I looked closer, the girl had short hair just like hers! She sure LOVES her dad!

She is also fascinated with my belly and very excited to meet her baby sister. She says she wants to change diapers (yay!) and be nice to the baby. I told her she needs to practice by being nicer to Izzy. And also that she likely won't always feel like being nice to baby sister once she starts bugging her like Izzy does! Izzy will tell anyone who asks that her best friend is Riley. It's sweet how much she adores her big sister. Riley doesn't really find it to be flattering much.

Riley is bossy toward everyone. She is a "little mother" already and I know she wants to be a mom when she grows up. I think she likes the idea of being in control. (like I said, she is a lot like me in many ways! ha ha)

But I am trying to teach her that at this point, she isn't my boss, Izzy's boss....or ANYONE ELSE'S boss!! She literally has no shame about telling others what to do. The one thing I find odd about that is in situations where there may be some "peer pressure" from older friends and friends in general, she is too trusting and will follow the crowd. I have witnessed a few poor choices on her part as a result but I try to use those instances as teaching tools. I hope it all clicks soon and that she will grow and learn to stand up for the things she believes/knows/feels are right vs things that are questionable and not right. I think it's an especially crucial time for her to learn these things because she is starting school so soon.

Anyway...that's a bit about Riley right now. She is such a strong-willed girl and as much as she is a challenge, I know I have a lot to learn from her just as she has a lot to learn from her parents!

So much to post about, so little time

And I am not sure where to begin...but I can start with, "Nope, still no baby."

So this is how I will pass some time as I wait "patiently".

This past week my friend Angela invited the girls and I to go to Thanksgiving Point's Farm Country with her and her three boys. Normally this kind of thing sounds like too much "work" for me being in my 9th month of pregnancy. But I am up for anything that gets me walking around these days. And let's face it, the girls deserved to get out and have some fun too!

We had not been to Farm Country before so it was something fun and new and exciting to the girls. Spring is a great time to go because 1- it isn't too hot yet and 2- there are baby animals!!
I would say the only down-side may have been that there were several school groups on field trips there...but still, it wasn't too bad.

Riley is a struggle for me to take almost anywhere because she is independent and doesn't like to listen to me... I have to repeat myself over and over and over like a broken record, I get frustrated, and then I start to get mean!! She wanted to run free and do/see whatever she pleased without staying with our group. She has no fear and doesn't understand crowded places and strangers and getting lost. It's a little scary to me.

Izzy on the other hand stays with me really well and listens pretty well too in crowded places. She just understands the safety of staying close to me and keeping me in her sight. Complete opposites!! Izzy's only complaint the whole time was telling me how "stinky" it was...repeatedly. Can't say I blame her because as you can imagine, any place called "Farm Country" does smell a bit.

Here are a few photos I snapped

With each admission, every child gets a pony ride. Izzy, being my cautious one was a little nervous and I had to walk beside her pony the whole time because she would have fallen off if I weren't by her side.

Riley on her pony
Here you can see Izzy isn't too happy with the smell.
Owen and Riley having a snack, waiting for the wagon ride. I think it's funny how there is a whole, open bench and they are sitting so close together.


Owen, Riley, and Izzy on a cow bench. Poor Luke was not feeling well that day and therefore didn't want to be in any pictures.

Thanks for inviting us, Angela! We had fun!!

No pictures and not a whole lot to report...

...but I still felt like posting. This is definitely not a post people should even bother reading as it's more for me to remember....that not ALL nights are sleepless lately (at least not last night).

Last night I didn't get up to pee. I think it was a miracle...or a tender mercy. Or both.

See, I have NO CLUE the last time I slept through a night. I can't even say for sure I slept all night...I may have awaken once or twice, but I was able to get back to sleep immediately. (No getting up to empty my bladder!) I never heard one of the girls talk in their sleep or Travis snore. I woke up to my alarm feeling rested (the feeling didn't last long, but it was refreshing first thing this morning).

Anyway, a miracle because I get up AT LEAST twice a night to empty my bladder pretty much my whole pregnancy. And that's on good nights. There haven't been many good nights lately. A lot of times it's three or even for times that I have to roll out of bed and waddle to the bathroom. And often times I have trouble falling back asleep afterwards. Two nights ago I actually laid awake for an hour or so before I grabbed a blanket and headed downstairs to do some reading snuggled up on the couch. That eventually put me back to sleep....sitting up on the couch. I assumed I would have a sleepless night again and be up watching the royal wedding...but I slept right on through it. WHICH IS FINE WITH ME! I wasn't planning on watching, I just assumed it would be something to do when I couldn't sleep.

Anyway, YAY for not getting up to go in the middle of the night. I enjoyed it and I know there likely won't be another night like that for at least a few months.

Can't wait for there to be something CUTE to get up for instead of going potty. We (Travis and I) are so ready to meet this little girl. The girls THINK they are, but we will see how they feel once she is here and everything. I am still really nervous for the transition. And three kids still sounds really scary. But it's going to happen soon, so I am as ready as I will ever be. Hoping I don't make it to May 26th. Send some labor thoughts our way?

The past couple months

Guess it is about time for an update! I have been meaning to update for months! This winter seemed really long to me. Maybe it's because our normally healthy girls caught every cough/cold/ear infection/etc possible. Before I complain, I should say I am grateful we have had such healthy kids to this point. Neither had ever had an ear infection. Well for some reason, fall hit and Riley got a sinus infection. She has since had one or two others. And I am not even kidding when I say the girls got coughs in December that lasted straight through sometime in January. Then I had them to the doctor AGAIN at the beginning of February...more coughs and colds. And coughs are the worst because they just LINGER FOREVER. And they are worse at night...which keeps ME awake, worrying about my poor kids! I thought it was the last straw when Riley got her first ear infection at the beginning of March and Izzy had yet another cough/cold. I mean, I know it's pretty good that Riley had never had an ear infection in 4 1/2 years. And Izzy hasn't ever had one and she is almost 3 1/2. BUT STILL! I kept them home from preschool a whole week thinking we would get rid of everything once and for all. WRONG.
It's like the first of April hit and Riley has her second ear infection in 5 weeks, both got some type of eye infection, and yet again--COUGHS. Coughs that have kept me up for hours on end night after night and just in case you forgot, I already can't sleep because I'm only 7 weeks away from having a baby! Every time the girls get sick I think, OK, this has got to be it, we need to get rid of this and have time to air out the germs before baby joins us. I am starting to really stress. I almost want to pull them out of preschool for the rest of April and May in hopes of not bringing anything else home. But then I remember preschool is the little shred of sanity I have these days. I don't know what to do, but luckily for the sickies, this week is spring break...so hoping that staying home will finally get everyone better and be the last of it. But if things seem iffy at all when they return to preschool NEXT week...I don't think I will have much of a choice but to pull them out for the rest of this school year. I cannot have sick kids with a tiny newborn! I am a paranoid germaphobe.
Here are a couple recent pics of the girls. They are getting so big and they are so ready (or so they think!) to meet their baby sister.





Hard to believe we cut 6 inches off of Riley's hair at the end of September. It sure has started growing back. Izzy still has NEVER had a haircut because I know all her natural curl at the ends will never come back once we do cut it. She has no desire to get it cut anyway...so it's long hair for now in this house! I'm hoping baby comes with a head full of dark hair like Riley did at birth. However, Travis and I were both REALLY blond babies and kids, we aren't sure how the girls started out darker than us!
The preschool class had a field trip to THE QUARRY in Provo at the end of March. It is a place to climb rock walls.

Riley didn't go much higher than this, but I guess it was a good start and a fun thing to try!

And Izzy seemed all gung-ho...
but once we got her all strapped in the harness, she wanted OUT. :(
Here are the two sickies this week. Laying low. At least they are pretty much best friends. Except what little sister doesn't know how to push her big sister's buttons? Izzy can really get Riley going when Riley wants a little alone time!

And as far as really good news despite all the sickies, I have been a neglectful mom...as in, I have never taken the girls to see a dentist, officially. (No, that isn't the good news, stay with me!) I finally made an appointment and thought it would be the biggest nightmare and they would have a ton of cavities...but nope! Instead, Izzy (who I thought would be a pill) was a total angel and neither girl had a single cavity. CAN I GET A HALLELUJAH?! Riley does have one spot on one of her back lower teeth but it isn't enough to call it a cavity at this point. If it becomes a hole, it will of course need filled...but for now, we are in the clear! *Sigh of relief*

Travis has been busy at work (though really, what's new?!). He just hired two new guys who are currently being trained. I am just hoping and praying they are sufficiently trained in a few weeks so that he will be able to enjoy some paternity leave. (Thank you Adobe for being awesome and giving a guy two weeks paid!) Aside from being busy at work, he fills the rest of his time with his church calling, playing with his adoring girls, and is getting ready to put our yard in over the next several Saturdays. He is getting really excited for baby too. It's cute :) Last night he told me he thinks I better get my hospital bag ready. I was happy to hear it, I had started to think about it but didn't want to seem too eager.

Now for an update on me aka...the baby I guess. The growing of a baby is pretty much consuming me right now. It's hard to think about much else when I am constantly in the bathroom, hungry, achy, exhausted, you get the idea! We painted her room. And so I have been unsure if I wanted to unveil it because her name is on the wall...but I figure why not?
The above picture has really poor lighting, but the two pictures on either side of the window are just cute flowers that match the colors we used.

And now for the dreaded belly shot. I apologize for the weird facial expression...I don't like to have my picture taken anyway but add to it that it's a pic of me alone and it's like, what am I supposed to do? I apparently can't just smile naturally. Still, I feel strongly about having a little photographic proof as a pregnancy memento. 6 1/2 weeks left! And I am starting to swell :(

My doctor put me on his schedule to induce labor May 26th if I don't go into labor before then on my own.

That's all for now! Stay tuned, I suppose. The next time I post maybe there will be a baby...here's hoping I can be more on top of blogging when she comes! I do have that goal. But I am nervous for the transition and adjustment to THREE kids.