Madison Renae

On August 2, 2013 we found out we were pregnant with our Madison.  Of course, then her name was June (if she was going to be a girl, of course.  A boy named June?  No.)  We had been trying to get pregnant for almost a year and clearly it took moving to Idaho for it to happen, since we had only been here for a couple months!  Something in the water, apparently.:)

When we had our BIG ultrasound in November, and saw that she was a girl...well, can't lie...there was a little bit of disappointment.  More from me than from Kris.  I reeeeealllly wanted another boy.  Kris, on the other hand, now has a handful of Daddy's Girls, so he's pretty content.  Whatever.  We had picked out the name June Elizabeth long before we were ever pregnant, but as soon as we knew we were having a girl, the name just didn't seem right.  And of course, now I look at her and I see a Madison.  She was definitely not meant to be a June!  
I had a super easy pregnancy.  Felt awesome.  Up until the end, when all of a sudden, I felt enormous.  Like, I have never felt so pregnant, with any of my kiddos.  Even Kris commented about how big I looked.  I even had to buy maternity pants!  (I've never had to get them...which is sort of a shame, since they were so comfortable and I sort of adored them.)  And then at 36 weeks we discovered why I was getting so big.  SHE was getting big!  We were measuring 40 weeks at 36 weeks.  Holy baby, Batman.
My doctor told me I could have an elective c-section if I wanted to, which I totally laughed at.  Cause seriously, I pushed out 3 babies already (one of which pretty much fell out on his own), surely a big baby was no big deal.  I told him I'd like to be induced at 39 weeks, no c-section.  So that's what we planned for.
Stupid plans.
The morning of my induction, we got to the hospital and I was seriously sick.  I had so much anxiety, I was nauseated and ready to lose it.  My nerves were completely out of control.  The killer was when all the nurses already knew who I was and I was giving birth to a giant baby (their words, not mine).  Our doctor came in and talked with us again about her size and the options and he was guessing she was near 10 lbs.  I told him I needed a little bit of time and in that moment I was SO grateful for an LDS doctor, who told me I should pray about the decision.  I had prayed in the weeks before but felt no inclination towards having a c-section or vaginal birth.  We opted for a c-section, and immediately all my nerves calmed.  Of course, then it took them 6 tries and 3 different people to get my IV in.  Before we changed our minds about being induced, Dr. Astin had broken my water, so then after a few hours, the contractions started so I got to be having contractions on my way to my c-section.  And then, once we got to the OR, it took 5 tries and 2 different people to get my spinal in.  It was kind of a nightmare.  
I was laying on the operating table, legs all numb, when I start feeling the tugging and pulling and then Dr. Crandall (another OB from the office, who is in our ward) say, "Is Kris coming in?"  Seriously?  They forgot to get my husband from the waiting room before they started.  By the time Kris got in, I was SO sick, but I couldn't get my oxygen mask off and nobody could hear me (have you ever tried to talk with an oxygen mask on?).  He came around the curtain and I just kept saying, "Help me, help me."  So pathetic.  BUT...whatever they gave me for the nausea was like a miracle.  Not even kidding.
And then my baby was out.  And she was beautiful.  And not 10 lbs.

Madison Renae was born at 1:04 p.m. on April 2, 2014.  9 lbs. even, 20 inches.  Also, look at those shoulders.  In hindsight, if I had tried to push and she had gotten stuck, we would've been in SO MUCH trouble.  Having a c-section was hard (recovery was HARDER) and I have been seriously affected by it, but it was definitely the right decision for getting her here. 

The kids adore her.  When they came to meet her at the hospital, Jack kept saying, "My baby, don't touch my baby."  Of course, now he's pretty jealous.  But for awhile...he loved her.:)

Here's the awesome thing about babies... Madison has only been in our family three and a half weeks but I have forgotten what life was like before she was here.  She just fits. 

Family Movie Night - Frozen

 I had this elaborate movie night all prepared for Frozen.  I was so excited.  Troll stones for dinner with Olaf Pilaf, fried ice cream for dessert.  Glow necklaces and capes.
And then I was 9 months pregnant.
The good news is that my kids are SO forgiving (and cute in their glow necklaces).  They loved just getting to watch Frozen all together and eating snowballs (aka powdered sugar donuts). 

The Most Expensive Bean Ever.

 My dear, sweet Emily, whom I love and adore, stuck a bean up her nose.  A BEAN.  UP HER NOSE.  A black one, so sort of small.  When I went to get her in jammies one evening, I noticed a little black ring around one of her nostrils.  I thought maybe she had tried to put a crayon up her nose.  No.  And we couldn't even try to get it out ourselves, so off to the Emergency Room we went.
Emily was a trooper.  They put a long tube up her nose with a little balloon on the end to pop out the bean.  She didn't wiggle or fuss and did awesome.  
And then we got the bill.
And she swears she will never put a bean in her nose again.

 The penny is totally unrelated...but now you know how big the bean was.:)

Family Movie Night - Lady & the Tramp

 It was only appropriate to watch Lady & the Tramp for our Valentine's Movie Night.  We even had a SPECIAL venue...aka Grandpa's House.  Our attempt at Italian Sodas was not...super awesome.  But they were cute in the cups anyway.:)  And the kids were disappointed when we couldn't get the movie to play on Grandpa's TV...so stay tuned for another Lady & the Tramp movie night.:)

Annie's Big 5

 My Annie turned 5...which is sort of unbelievable.  It shouldn't be, because I have friends with kids much older than that.  But nevertheless...my baby turned 5.  And I might've cried a little.  Annie is the funnest girl.  She loves preschool and Barbies and playing with her cousins (and sometimes her siblings...hahaha).  Annie also has an amazing sense of humor.  She laughs at the best times, like she knows what's so hilarious.  She's beautiful and smart and sometimes I can't believe how lucky I am that she's mine.

For the big day, we had everybody over for Sunday dinner.  Seriously, I love having all my family close by for things like this.  It makes it so special for the kids.  Annie got a fun dress from Uncle Eric & Auntie Leah, with a matching one for her baby doll.  Grandma gave her Floam.  Grandma, if you're reading this, please don't ever buy my children Floam again.  Just kidding.  Sort of.  The thing she'd been asking for most was an Ariel Barbie and a bike.  Uncle David & Auntie Nicki gave her the Barbie.

Her special request was princess cupcakes.  Let's just say I tried.  Hard.  And she was content (I, on the other hand was not SUPER happy with the result...melting chocolate is MUCH more difficult to work with than you'd think.).

On her actual birthday...A BIKE.  She was SO excited, she sat and looked at it for the longest time before she would even sit on it.  Like she was in awe.  It was fantastic.  LOVE to see my kiddos be excited.  

From our friends in Arizona...Squinkies.  And she even got a special hat at school and free lunch at Golden Corral, complete with cotton candy.  Also, I will never let my kids eat cotton candy again.

Family Movie Night - January

In my quest to not suck so much as a mother, this year I am implementing Family Movie Night!  January's movie nights were Princess and the Frog, Toy Story, and Mulan (for Chinese New Years', of course!).  And seriously, they were a success.  My kids thought I was AMAZING, which was sort of an awesome feeling.

Princess and the Frog

 

Kris...as "The Conductor" (Seriously, that's what the kids called him...because he's the ticket-taker.  So, somehow that equates to conductor?  Whatever...it's awesome.)

Toy Story

Mulan

Christmas

 

We had sort of an amazing Christmas this year.  Things have not been super awesome since we moved to Idaho and we just weren't sure how we were going to pay for Christmas this year.  And then to make matters worse, we had to replace the battery in our van.  Not an expensive car repair, but that was the Christmas money we had set aside.  Thankfully we had the money set aside and could fix the car, but its not like we could just skip Christmas.  4-year-olds know about Christmas.  

Then we had this amazing blessing happen to us that taught me the beauty of family and selflessness.  I was told, "Let's not let them learn that Santa loves rich kids more..."  I don't even have words for how our family was touched this Christmas.  Needless to say, we were able to give our cute munchkins an awesome Christmas.

 

 

 

 And of all the fun things these kids got...this is what Jack wanted to play with.  A giant cardboard tube.  Love this kid.

 We even enjoyed some Christmas-ing at Grandpa's house!  It is so nice to have all our family close by for the holidays.