Meet Baby Eliza

April 2017

Dear Baby Eliza,

You are here!  I was so anxious to meet you.  Partly because of how uncomfortable I was before you were born.  But mostly because I love meeting these sweet little spirits that come from heaven! I love birth days!

The night before I had you there was a crazy snow storm that came into Idaho Falls.  Around 10 pm we started looking on rental websites for possible housing in Utah (because we had found out a couple weeks earlier that Dad had gotten into a PTA program and would be starting in May).  At 11 pm contractions started.  They weren't ever painful, but continued every 7-9 minutes and went all night long.  At 5:45 am the next morning I got in the bathtub, did my hair and makeup and woke Dad up by saying "It's baby day!"

Grandma came to watch Hyrum and Afton and we left in the sunrise to go to the hospital.  On the way we ran into our cop friend who was at the scene of an accident.  Dad yelled out the window, "Justin, we are on our way to have our baby!"  Justin gave a huge thumbs up and yelled "Good luck guys!"  IT felt like we were in the scene in a small town on a movie.  So fun.

We got to the hospital around 7:30 to find out that all those contractions the night before hadn't done too much...I was only dilated to a 3 and 1/2.  I was discouraged but walked around the hospital for an hour and then was about a 4 at 9 am.

I got an epidural around 11 am and then the midwife came in to brake my water around 12:30. The afternoon was spent relaxing and listening to my 5 favorite relaxing songs on repeat while I dozed in and out of sleep.  It was a calm happy atmosphere and I enjoyed mango italian ice as Blaine and I chatted and slept.

Things were slow the next few hours.  At around 4 pm I was dilated to a 6.  Then, just like always, my body picked up and around around 5 pm I was dilated to an 8 and a minute later to 9 cm.  The midwife came in.  I pushed for an hour and was really discouraged because for a while it didn't seem like you would be coming anytime soon.  But at 5:52 you came into the world face up (which explains why the contractions the night before didn't do much and why pushing took so long).

Your face looked so much like Benson.  They said "It's a girl!" and placed you on me.  You let out a little shriek and then curled up on me and fell asleep!  I was worried and asked if you were ok.  The nurses assured me you were doing great.  I fell in love with you...your little hands and body.  Your beautiful face.  I loved the way your toes and legs curled up by your chest.  You were and are the sweetest thing!

That night Hyrum, Afton, and Benson got to come meet you with Grandma and Grandpa.  I love watching the love siblings have instantly for their little baby siblings.  It is one of my most favorite things about having multiple kids.

The next couple days were bliss.  I love being at the hospital.  I love how they cook all my meals.  I love the delicious food, (it is really delicious at the hospital  I had you at).  I love that I don't have to cook and clean and I just get to enjoy getting to know you for two days.  I love skin-to-skin snuggle time and hearing little baby noises.

One thing I noticed about you is how calm you are.  Dad learned in the hospital from Heavenly Father that you are 4 words: Strong, Determined, Willing Confident.  That is why we chose the name Eliza for you which means "Dedication to God" and "Joyful".  You are just that!  Welcome to the world sweet Baby Eliza!

P.S.  One thing that made your birth so fun was having a birthday party for you with cupcakes and singing the "Happy Birthday" song.  Hyrum and Afton also read you books that they had memorized for homeschool the months previous.  Benson was happy to have you here but was a little out of sorts at the hospital.  That explains the picture of him throwing a tantrum on the hospital room floor.  Gotta keep things real. Life isn't all cupcakes and flowers with 4 kids, but it still is beautiful in it's own way!

P.S.S.  Also notice some of the pics are out of order.  If I waited until I had time to put all the pics in order and have all these blog posts perfect, I would never blog! :) #LifeWithFourKids

Happy Birthday Grandma Marilyn

March 2017

I have had so many moments lately that have just reminded me how lucky I am to have the sweetest husband in the world.  He means everything to me.

Today, it being my mom's birthday was no different.  I came home from stake baptisms to find him busy in the kitchen.  He wouldn't let me come in until he had finished this beautiful cake he had made in honor of my mother's birthday.

We wrote some sweet notes to my mother and sent them off on some balloons so they could reach her in heaven.  Blaine's said something like this:

"I can't wait to look into the eyes of the woman who helped shape my Kristin into who she is today.  Until we meet, I love you, Blaine."

My Afty Girl

February 2017

My Afton is 4!  Where has the time gone since they placed that beautiful baby girl in my arms for the first time?  I always think back to the time when we snuggled, skin-to-skin in the hospital and I realized that I was the luckiest woman in the world to be holding this little miss.  That little baby girl always liked to be snuggled and wouldn't sleep anywhere but in my arms for the first 6 weeks.  I look back at those treasured moments and sometimes wish I had enjoyed them more.  They go by so fast.

Now I have a very sweet and spunky 4 year old, who doesn't like to go to bed, who is the best big sister to Benson, who wakes up a few times every night and comes in my room in the middle of the night and asks me to pray for her :)  She loves shoes of all kinds.  In fact, that is the first thing she asks at someones' house, is if she can try on their shoes.  She does not like dogs...at all!  Her giggle is contagious and I love how freely she laughs.  She squeals when her brothers tease her and can hold her own.  She is so tender hearted and very stubborn.  She is not afraid to stand up for what she believes.  She makes life a party wherever she goes.  Seeing her growing up, I am reminded of a prompting that I received about her on Mother's Day 2013 as I walked home with her in my arms.  The prompting was this, "Afton is here to teach you how good life is!"  That is so true.

Happy Birthday my sweet Afton!

For her birthday, we had a treasure hunt at our house and then went on a girl's date to Pizza Pie Cafe.  I love that Afton always wants to take silly pictures!

I turned around in the car to see her so proud of her scarf wrapped around her head like this!  I love how vivacious this girl is!

Then we hit up the stores to find the perfect high heels and nightgown.  She always is drawn to the sparkliest shoes, with the highest heels.  We didn't get these shoes, but ofcourse had to try them on.  She also had to try on the Elsa hat with braid attached.  She still loves long hair!

This was more fun for me than for her, but I had to have a little ten minute photo shoot.  I love the pics I got of her facial expressions!