Easter

After I got home from the hospital, Blake, Eric, Remi, Broden, Remi and Parker headed to a local National Trust site to do an Easter Egg hunt and walk around. The kids each got a big chocolate bunny for completing it.

Sunday, Easter morning we all woke up and came downstairs. Blake wasn't feeling so hot, but the kids had fun finding all the Easter Eggs and their new stuff. Blake actually had the flu, followed by Alissa a little later in the morning. So, Eric went to church without us with Remi and Broden.  We had ham and rainbow jello for dessert. It was a pretty quiet day.

After the easter bunny came. He left eggs and candy. The swimming suits and shoes were from mom and dad. The fun Easter decorations are what the kids got to make at the Med Group Easter party.

And, she's here!

We were scheduled to be induced on March 28th, 1 week before my due date. Because I have been induced with all our babies except Remi we decided it is easier that way. Blake has always had kinda a hard schedule to work around, so this way he could schedule patients around baby. 

We went in to the hospital at 5:00am and started all the paperwork and IV's with fluids. At about 6:45 they started the pitocin. I couldn't feel the contractions very strongly and was starting to get a little impatient. The Anesthesiologist came in to talk to me about 10 and gave me the whole talk about risks and benefits. I wasn't in too much pain though, so she said call her back when I was ready. As soon as she left the room I really started feeling the contractions. The doctor came and checked me and said I was at a 4 and almost fully effaced. Then they had the anesthesiologist come back in and by the time they got the fluids all in me, and found a blood pressure cuff that worked I was in a lot of pain. I haven't felt labor since I was pregnant with Remi. I always get the epidural before I feel pain. So I was glad when the epidural started working. There was 1 little spot on my tummy that it didn't work on though. I could feel every contraction in that one place and it hurt. The anesthesiologist came back in and adjusted it and it fixed the problem. When the epidural was working properly the doctor came back in and broke my water, then she put in a catheter, yuck! I haven't had one of those before, other than to just drain my bladder. They left this one in and even though I had an epidural I could feel it and didn't like it at all.

AFter they broke my water and I was just waiting, Blake left to get some food. About 1:00 I could feel a lot of pressure and knew the baby was coming fast. Luckily Blake was back and done eating. They called the doctor and she had time to get her gown on just as I was ready to push. The nurse told me not to do a practice push because she thought the baby would just come out. So the doctor got set about 1:13, I pushed 3 pushed through 1 contraction and out came baby girl Jones. Such a happy moment to have a brand new baby placed on your tummy and hold them and look at them. The nurses wanted her to cry a lot to clear her lungs because she came out so fast. So she cried while they wiped her off, then I got to calm her down and feed her. This is the first hospital I have been in that they have mom hold the baby for a long time before doing the tests and height and weight. Blake left the room for a minuted and I asked the tech how much she thought the baby weighed. She guessed 7 pounds 11 ounces. So when Blake came back I told him that was my guess. I think he guessed 7 pounds 8 ounces. The tech and I smiled at each other, then she weighed the baby and she was exactly 7 pounds 11 ounces:) Blake was impressed until I told him I had the tech give me an estimate. I figured she sees and weighs babies every day and probably had a pretty good idea. So 7 pounds 11 ounces, 20 and a half inches long and born at 1:15!

Just after birth

Mom and baby

7 pounds 11 ounces

cute little feet

So much hair

getting wiped down after birth

20 1/2 inches

proud daddy of # 5

After they gave the baby a bath and I was situated Blake went to get Parker from the babysitter and get the other kiddos and Eric. They came back to the hospital and were so excited to see their baby sister. We still couldn't decide between Kelsi and Kaylee, but the kids kept calling her Kelsi.

Parker checking out the new baby

Remi and Kelsi
Proud big sister

Alissa and Kelsi
another proud big sister

Broden and Kelsi
Proud big brother

Parker, Kelsi and Mom
another proud big brother

Remi, Kelsi and Alissa

Uncle Eric has always lived away from his nieces and nephew when they were born. He has always either been on a mission or in a faraway state when we have had our babies, so he was so excited to hold a little baby. This is the youngest baby he has ever held or been around and he loved it.

she looks so tiny in his arms

We thought it would be fun to have Eric change her first diaper. He was wondering what the big deal was and why we would want pictures, until he opened the diaper and saw the back tar mess inside. He was a good sport though:)

How many people does it take to change a diaper?

I stayed that night in the hospital and was planning on going home the next day. Lauren had a baby the week before and they really kicked her out after 1 night. So we just figured the same would happen with us. They got all the discharge paperwork done and actually discharged me, but Kelsi had lost weight faster than most newborns, so they were worried about her weight. They had us stay another night, just to be sure. Then we had to go to the doctor 2 days later and 4 days later for weight checks. She would gain some, then loose some, then gain some and loose some. We weren't really worried though. She seemed healthy and wasn't lethargic or anything. She pooped, peed and cried:)

Dad and Kelsi sleeping together

Leaving the hospital

So tiny:)

Kelsi's first bath

Today Remi and i gave Kelsi her first(real) bath. She loved it! I put her all the way under the water except her nose and mouth. She was so relaxed and content to just lay there and let me wash her hair and body. We had fun, especially Remi. She was so busy awing I had to remind her to take pictures.

Add caption

 After her bath we took some pictures. I was excited with how they turned out! She wouldn't go to sleep when I wanted her to though. She will sleep for 6-8 hours if I let her, but not when I want her to. Oh well. She's pretty darn cute awake too:)

Our easter baby

Life's lessons this week

I have learned some things this week that I thought were important to write down.

• Keep the car floor picked up. If not when someone throws up it gets on all 5 pairs of shoes, 20 socks, 2 coats, extra diapers and everything else on the floor.
• Cleaning up throw up in the car in the freezing cold is miserable.
• Playing mario carts on a big screen tv can give kids motion sickness.
• My favorite "tool" for cleaning up throw up is a spatula.
• Baking soda does wonders is getting the smell out of the carpet.
• Don't remake the beds until you know the person sleeping in it is healthy.
• I am so grateful I don't get sick from the smell of throw up. No, I don't enjoy cleaning it up, but it doesn't literally make me sick.
• Keep at least 2 pillowcases on pillows. 3 on kids who can't make it to a toilet or bucket.

Yep, we've had the throw ups this week. It started with Broden getting motion sickness, but then continued. One night Blake thought he heard someone throw up, then Parker started crying. He and Broden were sleeping together and when I went to check on him there was throw up everywhere. All over Broden, the bed and floor. I thought it was Parker, but after checking on both of them and cleaning we decided it was probably Broden. Poor boy, he was so asleep he didn't know if it was him or not. He was fine after that though. I did keep him home from school the next day, just to be sure. Sometimes I like just keeping my kiddos home though. He and Alissa played and played together. It was so cute. I really enjoyed having him home with us.

That night Parker came in to our room just after we had gotten in bed and said in a completely calm voice,"Throw it up mom." I didn't really understand what he meant, until I picked him up and realized he was covered in throw up. So I put him in the bath while I cleaned up his bed and floor. Then he slept by us on towels for that night. No, I don't let sick kids sleep in our bed if they can't make it to a toilet or bucket. I really don't like getting thrown up on while sleeping, or washing more sheets than necessary. He was fine the rest of the night, but the next day he threw up in the living room, then more in the kitchen. 

Then another night he threw up in Broden's bed. So, all that combined with Broden relapsing with the bed wetting thing has caused me to wash Broden's sheets 5 times in the last week, Parkers 2 and in between all that I thought it would be a good idea to wash the baby bedding and clothes. Not so sure this was a good idea. I was so backed up on laundry. I'm finally semi caught up, but for some reason when I get out of my routine the house just kinda falls apart. Oh well, I thought I would write about it instead of taking care of it:)

We are not quite ready for baby. Our car seat had a few problems and we found out it is expired and apparently the insurance company can choose to not cover you if your car seat is expired and you get in an accident. Then I pulled our stroller out of the shed and it is covered in mold and bird food. I think some kind of animal lived in it. So we will be getting baby car seat #5 and stroller # 7 I think. Luckily we usually just get used because apparently ours don't last as long as we wish:) Hopefully our next post is a happier one:) I am happy even though all this has gone on. We have great friends here and are very blessed. I just laugh now at the sicknesses and things that happen to us. Its better than crying!

Girls Day and Boys day

Remi, Broden and Alissa had this week off from school, so Monday we decided to do a girls day out for me and the girls and the boys would do whatever Broden wanted to do. The girls' plan was to go to Cambridge and have lunch, then get Remi's ears pierced and look for a baptism dress. We had tons of fun together, but we are going to go back again in 2 weeks to "finish" the ear piercing. They had 2 ladies do it at once and one of the guns didn't pierce her ear all the way. It bled a little so they have to wait 2 weeks for it to heal to try again. Kinda sad, but at least we are getting it all for free. It would have been 28 pounds but now we are paying nothing!

After lunch and ears we went shopping to TKMax for a baptism dress. We found one she loved and also an easter dress for Alissa. Usually I don't do the fancy dress thing, but since Easter, Baptism and baby blessing will all be within a few weeks of eachother I figure they will get a lot of use, instead of just once. 

Girls all ready for our date

The boys decided to go for a bike ride and do some geocaching. Then they went shopping for some yummy food and put Parker down for a nap. While he slept Blake and Broden enjoyed learning some new games on the IPAD. Broden was in heaven:)

 That night we grilled some burgers and cooked some fries. Then we watched a movie and had smoothies and popcorn. It all sounded so good, but the fries didn't taste right, the burgers weren't grand and the smoothie was just ok. The popcorn was good and we had fun together watching a movie. The next morning when I was cleaning the kitchen I discovered why the smoothies were just ok. Blake had gotten a smoothie mix to use. I followed the directions adding the oranges, ice and milk, but forgot to add the smoothie packet. We tried again that night and they were so much better!


We have enjoyed the kids week off of school. We have played with friends, had sleepovers, game nights as a family, game nights with friends, playing outside and just being together. Today Remi, Broden and Alissa had fun taking pictures of me for everyone wanting to see my big belly. I don't love taking pictures of myself or posting them where everyone can see them(facebook) so I guess I will just do it here. Then they will at least be in our family records. Not that I mind getting my picture taken or being in pictures with the kids, I just don't like doing the try and pose in front of a mirror and take my own picture. I didn't want to ask Blake to either, but the kids were more than willing to play photographers. Remi even told me how to stand and what to do.

By Broden

By Alissa

By Remi

By Remi

By Remi

For Valentines day we used some of the leftover pencils from the primary birthday gifts and made little hearts that said things like "You're Sharp", or "Write on" then we stuck the pencil through the heart. They passed them out at school for Valentines day. For breakfast we had pink pancakes shaped as hearts with applesauce and raspberries on top. Blake joined Remi and Broden for lunch and took Remi a rose. She was so embarrassed. The kids and I gave Blake's car a heart attack and they had so much fun doing it. We got him slippers too. Blake wen to the store the night before and got some yummy chocolates for all of us. Then the next night we went on a date with some other couples in the ward and did a progressive dinner. It was a fun evening after a long week!

The week before we left on our trip to Budapest I got a little sick. It got worse and I wasn't breathing very well one night in Budapest. Then a week after we got home I hit a wall. I was in bed for 3 days and even missed church. I haven't missed church in over 8 years for me being sick. I have been to other wards when traveling and been home with sick kids, but never me that sick. It was miserable. Tuesday I went to the ER to see if they would give me anything and they didn't. I had a Dr. appt. on Tuesday and she was amazing. It was actually a midwife, but she felt so bad for me and could tell how miserable I was. She was going to have me wait a week then email her if I still was sick and she would call in an antibiotic  but decided to just give me a prescription that day. She even gave me the kind I wanted that cleared up Blake's sinus infection in 2 days. So she gave me a z-pac, cough medicine with codine so I could sleep and some sudafed for congestion. I felt so much better the next day and by day 2 I was almost back to normal. Just a little cough. My doctor even emailed me and said she called in a prescription for an inhaler just in case I was having a hard time breathing. I didn't have to go get it ever, but was so grateful that she cared. Because the week started out like this Valentine's Day wasn't quite as grand as I had hoped. I didn't even get pictures of the cute banner the kids and I made. Oh well, next year.

Remi and her valentine's

Pancakes and chocolate

Everyone's breakfast and chocolates

Broden's Valentine's

The Sunday after Valentine's Day was actually sunny and felt warm outside. I think it may have gotten to 46. The kids decided they should have a picnic. They packed it themselves and everything. All I did was get out juice boxes for them. It was so cute. Blake spent the morning putting Alissa's bike together. I thought I wouldn't like going back to afternoon church, but so far I really like it!

Broden, Remi, Alissa and Parker enjoying a lunch in the sun

Blake working away