I feel bad for forgetting to give credit for the baby nest pattern. Click Here for the directions if you are interested.

One Week Old

I can't belive Lily has been with us for a week already. She is such a doll. She sleeps most of the time, eats really well, and hardly cries. She even lets me sleep 3-4 hours at a time at night and goes right back to sleep after eating. Also, she doesn't spit up, which is so nice. My boys were all little volcanos. It must be a gender thing in our family because Eden didn't spit up either. She is just a perfect baby. The kids are all in love with her too. Dallin even let her lie on his chest for 20 about minutes yesterday. My mom made this cute little baby nest for Lily so I thought I would try taking a few newborn pictures. Thanks Mom!






















She is as sweet as she looks. I am totally in love. I was recovering pretty well and then all of the sudden started feeling much worse. That has never happened before. So after chills, fevers, and aching for 2 days I went to the doctor and found out I had an infection, probably kidney. Good thing Peter was home all weekend to take care of things, I was in bed the whole time. I am feeling much better now so hopefully I can resume living again.
Eden has been so sweet with me the last week. Everytime I feed the baby she is right there with me and will just lie next to me and talk to me. She is involved whenever I am doing anything for Lily and holds her a lot. When I got sick this weekend, Eden rarely left my side. Sometimes I would lie there and fall asleep and she would just lay on the bed next to me and she would still be there when I woke up. She would always get me things and save the trouble of getting up and just became such a little nurse. She is a special girl.

Lots of Lily

Here are a bunch of pictures from the hospital.I am so happy for Eden to have a sister.


Proud brother. Dallin gets the cutest little love grin every time he looks at her.


Tanner thinks it is all good. He likes to hold the baby and feel like he is part of all this.


Doting daddy. Peter as always, loves his baby.


Eyes open. So far as baby looks go, Lily looks the most like Tanner did.

We make a good team.








I can't believe that little baby fit inside me!





Carter is pretty clueless with everything. He barely even notices the baby, but when he does he pokes at her and if prompted will kiss her.


Uno.


Tanner wanted to count her toes to make sure they were all there. Yep, they were.

Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks? She is delicious.


Tanner and Dallin's hands and Lily's foot.





Wow, here are our 5 kids. That still sounds so strange. I mean, I know how this happened, but how did this happen?!? These little sillies makes me laugh.


I see all 5 kids together for the first time and can't describe how it feels. This is my life right here. I can't imagine it any other way.

Lily's Story

Well I can say that the last nine months and 4 days were definitely worth it. Lily is finally here and part of our family forever! I have never been so anxious to have a baby before. Partly because those last few weeks get pretty squished and I had foolishly assumed that because the last 3 babies came early (6 days, 10 days, 14 days) that she would too. My Mom came for 10 days and I really wanted to have the baby while she was here to help, but it was not to be. I sadly dropped my Mom at the airport just a day before it all started. I must say her visit was still very comforting for me and I don't know how I would have gotten through those days without her.

Sunday morning, November 15th I woke up and started packing a few more boxes and getting kids ready for church. I was glad that at least I would get to go see the primary program that the kids had worked so hard to prepare for. I was feeling a lot of pressure from the baby's head that day and even said to my sister on the phone that I wouldn't be surprised if this was the night, even though I wasn't contracting regularly. I figured I would be wrong though since I had been so many times lately. By now I had had so many false labor episodes, and they were more painful each time, so I had no idea how I would know when I was really in labor.

That evening around 5:30 I started having contractions about every 5 minutes. I didn't know if it was labor, but they did hurt quite a bit so I started ordering Peter around to get ready. He and I spent about an hour picking up the house, making sure beds were made and that everything was in place. We have done this many times the last few weeks. We were both doubtful, but figured it had to be real one of these times.

We put the kids to bed and told them that the baby might be coming tonight. They were excited. My visiting teacher came over the house and off we went. I continued contracting but said many times on the half hour drive that I regretted going because it doesn't seem different than the other false labors. We parked and went into the hospital at 8:30pm ready to be turned away. Once in triage the nurse hooked me up to the monitors and checked me. I was dilated to a 2 a few days earlier so I was really doubting. But this time I was at a "good" 4. I was a little relieved because that usually means you will be admitted. I assumed that my contractions would taper off any minute still though and they weren't even that close together. The nurse picked up on my doubts, and after talking to the doctor suggested I walk for an hour and come back to see if there was any change. I was happy to do that because I did not want to be admitted and then have to be induced or have a long labor in the hospital. When you are a woman with a purpose, it is amazing how easily you can power walk when you are in pain. When walking the contractions were 2 minutes apart and I was still feeling a lot of pressure from the baby coming down.

After that hour the nurse checked me again and I was a 5 1/2 already! I should have been confident by then and we would for sure stay, but I still couldn't let myself believe it. Once resting again the contractions slowed back down to 5-6 minutes apart so I was still waiting for things to taper off. I could still relax through the contractions so I also didn't think it was painful enough yet. When I got up to got to the labor and delivery room, WOW, it became extremely painful. I used the giant exercise ball a little and that felt good. After a few more minutes, I decided I was ready for an epidural. Silly me though, I was now convinced that once I got that done the contractions would stop still (that happened with Carter).

The anesthesiologist was really good. The hospital wasn't busy either so he came really fast and had it all done in less than 5 minutes. He was really nice and funny. Within 10 minutes I was pretty comfortable, but he did have to add a little more medicine for one side to take. Once that was all done, the nurse checked me and I was dilated to an 8! I know I have never gone that far without the epidural before. I was very surprised yet again. We called a lady in our ward who we had arranged to come with the kids. She went and picked up Dallin and Eden and they got there around 1:00am. At this point, my monitor was not picking up my contractions and I couldn't feel them too much. I thought for sure that this was it, my labor had finally stopped. I know, was I paranoid or what? I don't think they ever really got closer than 5 minutes, except when we were walking but I progressed pretty quickly so it made the labor a lot less intense. That was great but still caused me to doubt. Dallin and Eden were wide awake and really cute and excited about everything when they arrived. Peter asked Eden if she wanted to cut the cord this time since Dallin cut Carter's before. She said no, so Dallin was totally up for the task.

A little after 2:00 I started feeling lots of pressure and there were lots of decelerations in the baby's heartbeat, which means she was coming down. I had one small place in my belly that wasn't numb so I could really feel the contractions now. I told the nurse and she came in to check me. I was 9.75 centimeters so she called the doctor. The nurse told me that as soon as the doctor would break my water "this baby was going to come flying out". Okay, so I finally believed that this was really happening.

The doctor came in and broke my water and then quickly got everything into place. Peter had told the doctor that he wanted to be as involved as possible, so she gave him a gown told him he could do the delivery! She would just instruct him like she would a medical student. We have never done that before so it was pretty exciting. Eden stayed back and was more comfortable watching from a distance and Dallin kept trying to get a better view as the delivery began. The kids were very prepared for what they would see so I wasn't worried about them at all. It only took about a minute to push the baby out. Peter did great and the kids loved watching their baby sister arrive. Lily is our first baby that actually came out face down instead of up. I think that made it even easier. Once she was out, they put her on my belly and Dallin confidently cut the cord with no help. The nurses said that he did better than most dads do at it.

Over the next hour, I held the baby skin to skin and everyone enjoyed looking at our new little girl. I had the feeling that she was going to be a big baby so I wasn't too surprised that she was a healthy 9 lbs. When they took her footprint, they inket one on the kids arms as well so they felt pretty important.

Having so much of our family there for the delivery was quite an event and I was so glad that we got to share such a special moment. Lori flew in later that morning and has been able to take care of things at home for us. That was a huge relief for us. Now my 2 day "vacation" is over and we will be heading home today. Lily could not be a more perfect baby. She eats well, sleeps a lot and time just seems to stop when I look at her beautiful little face. She is my first baby that will open her eyes and we will just look at each other for an hour or more. Maybe its because she was late, but she is very aware for a newborn and has even smiled a few times. Maybe involuntarily, but still, she definitely smiled.

This was definitely my best labor and delivery and easiest recovery. There is not much I would change about any of it. I am a little tired, but so happy. Every time I say the name Lily, I feel so happy that she is finally here and that she is real. What a sweet little addition to our family. A family of 7 to be exact! We are so grateful to Heavenly Father for sending her to us, what a blessing. There is nothing that makes you feel so close to heaven than to hold a brand new baby that just came from there.

Please Welcome

Lily Mae

Born November 16, 2009 at 2:23 AM

Weighing 9 lbs

21 inches long

Soccer

Last week Peter took my long lense to Dallin's soccer game.Check out that grass flying.



What a stud!





Kick!


Sprint!


Dickinson #1: "Just like Thomas" as Tanner pointed out.


I think I am his #1 fan.

Have I mentioned lately that Dallin is my hero? What an awesome guy.

Is there anything better than...

When you are holding your little one and patting their back,

and they pat yours too!

Having a Baby is an Extreme Sport!

I was planning on my next post being a birth announcement, but since this baby seems to be shy I thought I would give an update. My due date is officially tomorrow so I know she will be coming soon. After having 3 early babies in the past and LOTS of false labor that gets my hopes up I am weary from wondering and just keep reminding myself that we are talking days, not months here. Let me tell you though, the worst question you can ask a 9 month pregnant girl is "When is the baby coming?" I wish I knew.

Dallin was so cute the other day. We were talking and I told him that I was so glad that Heavenly Father sent him to our family. He thought about it for a second and then said "I wanted to come."

I love having my Mom here. She has been such a help with everything. We even got to sorting and packing all of our kids outgrown clothes (a whole day project), gutting out and organizing the toy room, and freezing lots of dinners. Thank goodness for moms. I think I would be completely crazy by now without here for moral support. She is leaving Friday so I am hoping that she will be able to be here for the baby as well. Pray, pray, pray.

Moving!

Last week was very shocking. We got an unexpected email from our tenants that said they couldn't afford to stay in the house anymore unless we lowered the rent by about a third. We were planning to move back after Dallin finished his first grade year in June. Obviously we cannot accommodate paying rent for the house here and a large part of our mortgage at the same time so we have decided that moving home sooner than we expected would be the only option for us financially.

I'll be home for Christmas has a whole new meaning for us this year. Our moving day is now scheduled for December 20th. You moms out there know what a blur the first 6 weeks of a new baby's life is so as you can imagine I am quite panicked about organizing a move at the same time. Did I mention that we got audited last week and will be dealing with that in the next few weeks? Our sweet little baby should be here any time as well. I can't really figure out which way is up at the moment and I think I experienced my first panick attack the other night.

I am heartbroken for Dallin. He seems to be okay when we talk about it, but I am so sad to pull him out of a school situation that is going so well for him. I hope that over the next few weeks amidst all of this, we can still keep life moving normally for the kids and somehow give them the fun holiday season that they deserve.

On the bright side of things we really have accomplished everything that we dreamed of by living here the last 2 1/2 years. Dallin will be graduating from all therapy at the end of November. Mission totally accomplished. Once we get through the next couple of months, I am sure we will just be so happy to be home.

As quickly as this all happened to begin with, it comes to an end.

(Just after I finished writing this post, I got this in my email box!)
“In Moroni we read that ‘without faith there cannot be any hope’ (Moroni 7:42). We must exercise faith to take on life’s challenges and changes. It is how we learn and progress.”
Steven E. Snow, “Get On with Our Lives,”

Halloween 2009

Our kids are getting old enough now for making Halloween really fun. They are so excited about it all. They got to dress up 3 times this year. Once for Dallin's school festival, then on Thursday we had a ward party and of course the big Trick or Treat event.

Catch that Monkey!


Decorating pumkin cookies at the Ward party.


Donut eating contest.


Believe it or not, this was actually the best group shot we got. Oh well.





Eden's first year not being some kind of princess or fairy. She really wanted to be a witch, the pink was a bonus for her I am sure.


It was so cute to hear Dallin singing the Harry Potter theme song whenever he was dressed up.


Tanner's dream come true.
I didn't dress up, but I did wear a sign that said "Pumkin Smuggler" on my belly, I forgot to get a picture though.