little kitten

yesterday

my five day old 

outgrew her newborn diapers

and newborn clothes

all in one day

at least she got to wear a few newborn outfits

she also had her first doctors appointment yesterday

and weight 9lb 4 oz (down one oz from birth)

and grew an inch 

we love having a big baby

she is so content

we are all completely in love with her

easter saturday

easter baskets for all four kids 

 can you tell hazel was happy to find paint in her basket?

she just ran out so she was pretty excited

 noah was happy with everything he got

 olive was especially happy to find some candy in her basket

even though she looks mad in this picture...

michael and his parents took the kids to the stake primary easter activity

i was sad to miss it

but heard it was super fun 

 hazel's finally not afraid of the easter bunny

 just in time for olive to start being afraid

michael and his parents did an easter egg hunt at home, too

 the kids loved it

 i think they all had a really fun saturday

i spent most of the day in bed

cuddling eleanor

not a bad day for anyone

happy easter

 love, 

noah, hazel, olive, and eleanor

darling eleanor

we're home

with our sweet 2 day old girl

it's so fun to watch the kids with her

they love her so much already

eleanor mae olson

born april 4, 2012

(41 weeks, 2 days)

at 2:11am 

26 hours after my water broke

and lots of hard laboring

she was born via c-section

weighing 9 lbs 5 oz

and 21 inches long

41 weeks + a new resolve

passing my due date was hard

and passing march was, also

but i am resolved not to have that c-section wednesday

there are a few reasons why

like the fact that i won't have seen my doctor since last thursday

and it seems weird to go straight to a c-section

how will i know if i'm progressing?

instead i have an appointment to see my doctor wednesday

and we'll discuss my options then

unless it's medically the best option for baby

i really don't want a c-section

and i'm trying to have faith that my body will go in to labor

on it's own

before too much time passes

this is definitely my last chance at a v-bac

no doctor would support me trying after 3 c-sections

and i won't question it after this

but i have to feel like i've given it my all

and i'm doing surprisingly well physically 

so even if my c-section is only rescheduled a day or two

or three

i will feel better about that

than having her wednesday

when that may be premature

come on labor!

depressing

my march baby 

apparently isn't a march baby

and i am now six days overdue

i'm pretty sure she'll be born via c-section wednesday

because she just does not seem to be coming any other way

ho hum

i will be pleasantly surprised if i happen to go into labor

before wednesday

but it definitely isn't happening yet

and i'll admit

i'm getting more and more grumpy

every morning that i wake up still pregnant

an easter onesie

since i know i'll have a newborn by easter

i decided she'll need something festive 

i used this idea and template

to make eleanor a bunny onesie

 i got all four kids' easter baskets ready

(even assembled and hidden)

and most of noah's birthday preparation done already

so i won't be trying to get it all together

right after having a baby

now i'll get back to the task at hand.....

waiting

science fair

noah's science fair was tonight

here he is in front of his project

he had to show a collection

and sort it

so we took pictures of his hot wheels

and he sorted them

by color, speed and size

 here's noah and his best friend timothy

 and noah wanted to show me a picture he made

in the hallway outside his classroom

guess who it is of?

me! 

isn't that the sweetest?!

things i learned

at my ob appointment today

i am measuring 43 weeks along (FORTY THREE)

just like last week i am 1 centimeter dilated and 50% effaced (NO CHANGE)

the baby's head is slightly lower but still high and not engaged

my doctor will be out of town all weekend until tuesday

if by wednesday i haven't had the baby i get a c-section

 my weight is uncomfortably close to michaels

blurg

part of me wants to be put out of my misery already if it's going to end in c-section

but i know that if i am still pregnant by wednesday, i will have given it all i have

and i won't regret that

i'm hoping that the looming deadline will scare this little one out

and at least now i have SOMETHING i can count on

a little light at the end of the tunnel

ps. thank you kelli for watching my girls during my appt
and for the delicious cookies!!!

waiting, waiting, waiting

don't mind us

just here waiting for another little ballerina

to decide she's ready to join our family

we have a plan!

after debating whether to find a job

or go to grad school

michael applied for the masters in electrical engineering 

program at BYU

and we found out yesterday

that he got in!!!

so we're moving to utah this summer
for at least two years
i'll admit
that the thought of being done with school

was tempting
but we know if michael is going to grad school
it's now or never
and even if it's not easy
this is the right decision

yay for having a plan!!

40 weeks

i've got some
good news and bad news

bad news first?

i'm still pregnant

good news?

we're going on a date

to see the hunger games tonight

guess who got her ears pierced...

hazel did!!

while walking through our mall yesterday

michael asked hazel if she wanted to get her ears pierced

which we often do

and she always says "no, it will hurt"

but yesterday she said yes

even after michael started getting really nervous

(like tears in his eyes, wanting to walk away nervous)

she was determined
and i wanted to support her
because i have always said
i don't care when she does it
but i want it to be her choice
not one i make for her when she's an infant
or put an age restriction on
so i figured if she said she was ready, she was

and she did it without a tear

she was so proud

we were shocked and proud

she said it didn't hurt

sadly i didn't have our camera with us 

because i didn't know she was going to do it

but i took some pictures with the ipod

(that i will have to get on here later)

and some when we got home 

such a big girl!!

i think michael was a little heartbroken

to see his baby girl growing up

and it didn't help that when we went for ice cream

right after, she asked for vanilla (so mature)

or that when walking back to the car 

she saw a group of older girls (like 10 or 11 years old)

and said, "i wish i was big like them"

michael was pretty distraught about the whole thing

it was cute
too bad for michael we're going to have three girls
who are all going to want to grow up at some point

baby update

yesterday was a hard day

i hardly got 4 hours sleep the night before

because of my darn arms

and i went to my ob appointment

only to be disappointed that i'm 1 centimeter dilated

and 50% effaced

neither of which are bad

but she is still SUPER high 

and maybe a little stuck that way

like olive was

the doctor is prepared to let me go to 41.5 weeks

i, on the other hand, was not prepared for her to let me go

that long

so that was a little hard to hear

but i am so glad that i have a doctor 

who is so supportive of a vbac

at that point if baby hasn't come on her own

and is low enough

the doctor will break my water while i'm being monitored

otherwise it's a repeat c-section

i just really, really, really hope

she comes before that all on her own
...
luckily my husband is amazing
and took all three kids with him last night
to buy me flowers and pick up dinner
and some things we needed at the store
so i could have a little down time
seriously i don't know how i would survive without him
and i am so grateful for his support
...
a few positive things to not having the baby yet are
michael and i will get another date night in
and will go see the hunger games for it
i will get to go to noah's science fair
not that it's a big deal
but it's nice to be able to support him
and
the first week of april is noah's spring break
so we won't have to worry about getting him to or from school
or making sure he gets a snack packed and all that
and also hazel doesn't have ballet that week
so it will make being otherwise occupied
a little easier
...
on that note
it's hard being a mom of almost 4
and worrying about the one inside
and how and when she will get here
while making sure the other three are taken care of
especially without having family nearby

ha ha ha ha

 i thought i was showing so much at 8.5 weeks

turns out i had hardly begun

and now i'm really showing

at 39.5 weeks

sleeping princess

i love to take pictures of hazel napping

because it happens so infrequently

and always in random places

plus this time was extra pretty

because she fell asleep on our bed

all dressed for ballet

in fact she almost missed her class, she was so tired

a family walk

we went on a two mile family walk/bike ride

on the trail this last weekend

it was a lot of fun to be outside

and enjoy some decent weather

it was also good to help noah and hazel 

remember how to ride their bikes

after a long winter

speaking of, it's the first day of spring

which is super exciting

if only we didn't wake up to snow this morning..

39 weeks

i am due a week from today

which is exciting and soon

but i'm feeling pretty peaceful

if i want a v-bac, labor has to start naturally

and i don't have much control

so i'm happy letting go

and letting my body decide

i don't think i'll be allowed to go too far past my due date

without having the need for a repeat c-section

since high birth weight decreases success in v-bacs

but i am trying to be content
and accepting the fact that there may be
up to another two weeks of this

spring break

michael's been on spring break this week

so he's been working half days

taking noah to and from school

and then spending time with us for the rest of the day

it's so much easier to do fun things 

when michael is with us

so this week we've gone to mcdonalds, 

the science center, spokane, and the pet store

so much fun

i think this weekend we'll try our hand
at inducing labor naturally
(walks, spicy food, etc)
wish us luck!