Tristin & Daddy go roller skating...

On Saturday Trav and Tristin had their "date" together (but don't call it that in front of Tristin- those are just for Mom's & Dad's). They decided to go roller skating, the last time we went was back in Jan when Uncle Eli & Aunt Cindy came to visit. They had a great time together which wasn't a surprise. Trav had taken the girl's to the movie theatre a few days earlier for their date, so everyone had special time with their Papa.

An amazing husband, Sisters & cupcakes

All I can say is that it's been WONDERFUL having my husband home for the past 10 days!HE has taken the kids to the park, to the movies, read bed time stories, helped with bath time, played with the kids, helped with laundry, the dishes, changed diapers, fed the baby, made lunches, helped with home work, kept the neighbor kids away, & watched the kids so I could run errands ALONE!!! Talk about an AMAZING man! Trav is truely one of the best Daddy's in the world, which can be seen just by the way the kids look at him. They adore him and can't wait until he is home so they can have piggy back rides, candy, and fun on the trampoline with him. What melts my heart the most is when he's rocking Grace to sleep at nap/bed time and I can hear them both singing: Rock A By Baby, You Are My Sunshine & Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. There is nothing sweeter than my 2 year old saying: "Daddy, come rock a by me" and my strong, quiet husband scooping her up in his arms and holding her close while singing to her. I am very blessed to have him and my babies are so lucky to have him as their Daddy.
The past 9 days have gone by so fast!We are all doing really well- Willow is a great baby and pretty much just eats & sleeps right now, the kids are in love with and I just have to smile as she's passed down the line of eager sibilings, just bursting with excitement to hold her again. Our AMAZING friends have kept us well fed this past week and I've decided I should just keep having babies so they keep bringing us "real food" (Just kidding guys!) I actually slept 3 hours straight the other night!!!!!!! (which was a HUGE accomplishment for me) and I managed to get a shower this morning,(although it's super fun walking around smelling like breast milk!) I even hit a few yard sales yesterday with Angie.
And to my concerned family members: No, there has been no rest, and I'm sorry. I am incapable of resting, relaxing, or doing anything like it. I wish I could say I have layed in bed for days, letting my body heal- but no, I am indeed a crazy woman and have been out running errands,getting great deals, doctor app, etc.. on day # 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. All Mother's know there is no rest, and sadly, life doesn't stop just because you want it to. One day, I will rest, and one day I will be able to sleep through the night again, but until then, I need to enjoy every moment and every tiny person that makes that utterly impossible these days.

I just want to squeeze those cheecks!

Willow is now 6 days old and already loves to shop at Target & Albertsons, we've discovered! Everybody just absoultly adores her and there are daily arguments over who gets to hold her first, get the diaper out or put socks on her. She sleeps most of the day except for feedings and diaper changes, and usually wakes up around midnight, just as we are about to go to bed, but we really can't complain. My favorite moments with her are when she is wide awake and content and shes snuggled on my chest, or when one of her tiny, wrinkled, old lady hands grabs a hold of one of my fingers and doesn't let go. I love all of her little noises, dressing her in cute pink clothes and watching her drift off to sleep. She is perfect and I love her to pieces!

We're home!!!

(I think there's 4 or 5 pages of pictures, so make sure to scroll back to see all of them!)

More pictures...

Sorry I don't know how to flip pictures)

The kids meet their sister / G-ma & G-pa welcome their 17th grandchild

Willow has arrived!!!

At the hospital...

We arrived at the hospital Thursday morning at 7:30 am after getting the kids off to shane & Chelsea's & G-ma & g-pa's house. Naturally, I didn't sleep more than my normal 2 1/2 hours the night before, but excitment, fear and my 40 extra pounds were keeping me wide awake. After changing into my super sexy gown, wiping things down with Lysol wipes and saying a silent prayer, I hopped in bed and waited for the fun to begin. After my first exam, my nurse said, "Oh my, your body is SOOO ready to have this baby." Yeah, I told her, "My doctor has been saying that for almost 2 weeks! At 9:00 AM, God sent an angel to my room and I recieved my epadurial. A little after noon, they added a little pitocin ( I didn't need much to get me to a 10) and after 30 minutes of horrible contrations and 18 minutes of pushing, she was here! Willow entered the world at 1:45 PM weighing 8 lbs 7 oz and measuring 20 1/2 inches long. I couldn't have asked for a better experience... Trav & Andrea helped through every minute of it, my nurses were incredible, Willow was healthy and I felt really great after I lost 15 instant pounds!
I was once again reminded of God and his amazing plan, his miracles and his love for me. I just layed there in awe of what he had just given Trav and I- and although I lose sight of that everyday, I was so grateful to be reminded of how blessed I am to be a Mother. With tears in our eyes, I think we both gave a silent prayer to him, thanking him for our beautiful family.
After she arrived, I think I ate those 15 pounds right back- I was starving and didn't care at the embaressing amount of food I was consuming. I felt wonderful afterwards and visited with friends and family for the next several hours. Trav picked up the kids from G-ma and G-pa's house earlier and brought them to see us. The kids were pretty excited to see her and a little shocked that they really were! Trav took the kids home and stayed there with them overnight. I closed my eyes for a combined total of 15 minutes and was a complete zombie by morning, not to mention sore and in LOTS of pain. We survived it all though and were able to leave around noon (we stayed to have lunch though!)So, at 1:00 PM we were leaving with our little angel off to pick up the girls ang get home in time for Tristin to get back from school.I layed down for a hour, took some Advil and then quickly realized there would be no sleep for me with 4 kids in the house, so I gave up my dream of sleeping for a few silent hours and just asked God to give me a few minutes at bedtime.
Angie brought us YUMMY dinner last night which we devoured, and then Trav got the kids ready for bed while I relaxed, took a bath and fed Willow. I must admit my joy when I realized I slept 60 consecutive minutes last night! No interuptions! Although I'm still a walking crazy woman, I feel a little better than yesterday. There's nothing like giving birth, that's for sure!

Leaving for the hospital- Last photos before the big event...

Belive me, I did NOT want to post the next 20 pictures to come, but I knew 5 years from now, I would be grateful I did, so here goes...
There's my tummy right before we left for the hospital, and my last picture with 3 kids (right before we left, too)

A few things NOT to count on...

I've learned throughout my short 29 years that there are a few things you should rarely count on. For example:

1- The repair man. Seriously! Does he ever really come during the time slot that was agreed upon?

2- House closing dates/getting the keys on the date they said it would be ready. We are at their mercy, just impatientaly waiting as if we didn't have a lives.

3-The Target clearanced item you've been waiting all season to go on sale for 75% off- Yeah right, they are all gone by 30%-50% off!

and last but not least...

4- Babies coming when doctors assure you they will! (I love my Dr by the way!)I just assumed that because she knew my "girl parts" better than I did, that I could trust every word she said, so after 9 days of walking around with stripped membranes, a lost mucus plug, contractions and almost dialated to a 5, there is still no baby! No problem normally, but don't say we're going to have a baby in a few days if we're NOT going to have a baby! Last week was one of the top 5 longest weeks of my life (right next to : #1- the week before I got married, #2- the week before I gave birth to Tristin #3- the week before I gave birth to Daisy & #4- the week before I gave birth to Grace!)

So... for the 5 of you who actually read/check my blog, we are still waiting for the baby, but out wait is almost over. She'll be here in 48 hours for sure! (Thursday mornig at 7:30 we'll be induced!) When I saw my Dr. yesterday, she just stood there checking my cervix stunned, saying, "I just don't know why you haven't had this baby yet, I still think you'll go before Thursday." All I was thinking at that moment, was "Please get out of my cervix now and let me sit up" (it's a good thing I even made yesterday's appointment. She told me not to even make it because we would have a baby before then!)

So... there's the scoop. Hopefully I'll be home Friday with our stubborn little bundle of joy and I can get pictures up to show you!