Eli Arrives!

This is Don writing as the special guest blogger on this post . . .
This post is very late in coming but it seems like we hit the end of July and life got very busy and very complicated quicker than we were expecting – much quicker. 
By way of background . . . as of July 30th Rachel had given birth to three children – all girls – all late – and all were induced.  (OK Liberty started on her own but then required a Pitosin (sp?) drip.)
So on Sunday, July 31st with Eli’s due date more than a week away we did not expect any excitement – we were wrong.  Here’s how it happened counting down to the moment of delivery. 
7:00 AM (T -10 hours 35 minutes)
Don leaves for Bishopric Meeting. 
9:00 AM (T - 8 hours 35 minutes)
Pregnant Rachel manages to get the girls to Church and sits uncomfortably through Sacrament Meeting. 

10:15 AM (T - 7 hours 20 minutes) 
Having made a good showing at Sacrament Meeting Rachel heads home with Liberty to be uncomfortable in a more comfortable place. 
12:00 PM (T - 5 hours 35 minutes)
Church is over and Autumn and Bizzie head home. 
1:30 PM (T - 4 hours 5 minutes)
Don is done with meetings and heads home.
2:00 PM (T – 3 hours 35 minutes)
Rachel serves a delicious Sunday dinner of roast and potatoes. 
4:00 PM ( T – 1 hour 35 minutes)
Rachel shows Liberty YouTube videos of newborns to help Liberty get oriented to the idea of what’s coming. 
4:30 PM(T – 65 minutes)
Rachel starts to have “really really minor” “braxton hicks” type contractions – similar to what she’d had earlier in the week.  Rachel starts walking around the house trying to “walk off” the “really minor” “braxton hicks” contractions that she’s having. 
5:15 PM (T – 20 minutes)
Rachel decides to take a bath. 
5:19 PM (T – 16 minutes)
Don hears Rachel exhale loudly in the bathroom and decides to investigate.  He finds Rachel hunched over in the tub in the middle of a “really minor” “braxton hicks” contraction. 
5:20 PM (T – 15 minutes)
Rachel assures Don that she is not in labor – in the middle of which Rachel has another contraction.  In response, Don recommends that out of an abundance of caution they get Rachel out of the tub, dressed, and they go to the hospital.
5:25 (T – 10 minutes)
Don calls Rachel’s sister Mary and asks her to come watch the girls – who are sitting on the couch wondering what is happening. 
5:32 (T – 3 minutes)
Rachel and Don get in the van and head toward the hospital.  Don calls Mary again to tell her that they’ve left the girls at the house.  Rachel is doing her labor-breathing-thing.   
5:34:01 (T – 1 minute)
At 400 North Main Street Rachel’s water breaks (with an audible whoosh!).  Don accelerates, but is thinking; “Ok, that’s not so good for the car but I’ve seen enough movies to know that the woman’s water usually breaks when they are at a restaurant or something and there’s still a half hour – or an hour – to get to the hospital.”  Rachel says: “I don’t want to have the baby naturally!” (Rachel [and Don] are both big believers in the magic of modern drugs.) 
5:34:30 (T – :30 seconds)
At about 1000 North Main Rachel – in a panting voice – says: “I need to push - call 911 – call 911!”  To which Don thought: “Got it – calling 911 – but for the love of Pete – DON”T PUSH!”  A lot of things happened all at once next . . . First, Rachel did not NOT push – so Eli was coming (apparently “not pushing” is difficult to do).  Don was pulling over with one hand and calling 911 with the other.  Van stopped at 1050 North Main Street in Springville (with a very perplexed looking Hispanic family about 20 yards down the sidewalk).  Don was reporting the address as he went around the van and opened the door.

5:35:00 (TIME!)
Rachel is holding Eli as Don opens the van doors.  And that was it.  Eli was born.  We quickly grabbed a towel that was in the van (we have no idea why it was in the van – and we probably don’t want to know).  So much could have gone wrong here – but didn’t.  He wasn’t breach – there was no cord wrapped around his neck – within a couple of seconds Eli opened his mouth and you could see his chest rise and he began breathing.  He cried a little bit (glad to hear him cry) – and then settled down into the blanket.  he had great color – if he’d been at the hospital his APGAR score would’ve been a 10.  Don tied off the umbilical cord with his shoelace.  And Rachel began to ooh and ahh over Eli – about how beautiful he was – and how perfect he was – she might as well have been in a comfortable hospital bed – but the fact that she’d just delivered a baby un-medicated sitting up in a van along the side of the road was, at least for that moment, lost on her as she comforted her new son.  Don picked the phone back up and updated the 911 operator on what had just happened.   
5:35:45 (T + 45 seconds)
At this point Don realized he had a camera on his phone and (with Rachel’s permission) snapped the picture below.  Somehow Rachel managed a smile.      

And then we waited.  We exchanged some jokes and shook our heads at what had just happened.  Unbelievable – and so blessed.  About two minutes after the birth a policeman arrived.  I think he looked about as rattled as we did.  Once he’d confirmed the umbilical cord was tied off he offered Don his I-like-to-gut-buffalo size knife and Don cut the cord – with Rachel watching (sorry). 
5:38:00 (T+3 minutes)
The Springville Fire Chief had jumped in his SUV when he heard the call and arrived soon after the policeman.  He quickly checked Eli – who was doing great – then set to work on Rachel who was still having contractions in order to deliver the placenta. 
5:40:00 (T+5 minutes)
The ambulance arrived (driven by one of our friends Jose) and they moved Rachel out of the van – onto a gurney – and into the back of the ambulance.  Now, mind you – the ambulance was not pulled to the side of the road.  It was blocking at least one lane of traffic so there was a quickly building backup of cars with people craning their necks to see what was happening.  They saw Rachel go by on the gurney and then Don go by with the baby.  The look from guys: “Oh wow – check that out!”  The look from girls: hand to the mouth – silence – shaking of head. 
5:45:00 (T + 10 minutes)
And here we are in the ambulance.  Jose did a great job getting to the hosptial fast.  Eli did a great job finding Rachel-alternates to suck on for the time being.  And Rachel was busy trying to get rid of the placenta – and dealing with the shock of a lightning fast delivery. 

5:55:00 (T + 20 minutes)
We arrive at the hospital.  Rachel is wheeled toward labor and delivery.  Eli and Don are coming up behind (Eli still wrapped in the towel found in the van).  Two reactions from hospital personnel: (1) “Ahhhhh, look at the cute baby – and what a brave mommy!” (2) (with furrowed brows and head shaking) “Can’t believe they didn’t get themselves here sooner.”  We were exchanging calls with family members at this point – most of which were beginning with: “What the [insert expletive of choice] is happening?”

I call this Rachel’s Let-Me-Tell-You-About-The-Day-I’ve-Had picture.  In shock over the fast delivery – and still having contractions in order to deliver the placenta.  In my view – a beautiful brave mommy.   
6:05:00 (T + 30 minutes)
Rachel delivers the placenta as her doctor comes through the door asking if she’s left anything for him to do.  He works on Rachel while Don is watching them check Eli out.  Below you can see Don’s shoelace still tied to the umbilical cord – and the van-towel still with him.  There’s also the frog blanket kindly supplied by the ambulance.  

6:15:00 (T + 40 minutes)
Here we are with the ambulance crew – who were wonderful.  We declined the waiver that would have allowed a media release. 

7:30:00 (T + 1 hour 55 minutes)
Things were in a much calmer state by now and the three older sister’s had arrived. 

10:00:00 (T + 2 hours 25 minutes)
Don returns to the van – aka – CSI-Springville. 
Closing Thoughts:
(1) I just realized that I wrote this post in 3rd person  - so excuse that. 
(2) I think it is important for women to closely study the difference between braxton-hicks contractions and the real thing. 
(3) Sometimes things happen that you have no control over and you have no choice but to let the Lord take control.  In retrospect I am grateful for the Lord’s calming assurance through that whole thing – and what I suspect was his intervention to clear the way of all the things that COULD have gone wrong – but didn’t.  Those couple of minutes we spent alone on the side of the road were poignant and beautiful and will be one of my favorite memories forever. 
(4) I married the most amazing person ever.  If she can do that – what CAN’T she do?  She was calm – she showed grace under fire – she displayed (even in that extreme moment) concern, and love, and appreciation for this new little miracle.  It wasn’t “Here Don – take him – I’m going to freak out here for a minute over what just happened.” (Which, frankly, would’ve been a reasonable reaction.)  It was: “Look at him – he’s perfect – here let me hold him.”  And then she cooed at him and did her best to comfort him.  That is, in my mind, heroic.

So now we have Eli.  A happy, healthy, hungry, boy who smiles and giggles at his sisters – loves to be held by grandparents but loves most of all to be with his mommy. 

Fall Hodge Podge

Crafty me….

I’ve been ready to “make” something for awhile now and the girls were insistent about getting Halloween decorations out of the boxes and up before Halloween came and went this year (go figure) - so this idea popped into my head…

 

I love the way paper crafts look but I don’t have a lot of time and money to spend picking out separate papers and piecing my project all together which is why I LOVE the new Cricut Imagine - it prints paper and cuts it. So all I had to do was pick the color of background for the banners, pick my letter font and color, hit print and there all my pretty papers were! To assemble it I glued my letters to the banners punched holes in the corners for the brass paper fasteners (I wanted it to have a careless hanging look), then I taped wired ribbons to the end and covered that with a Cricut cut pumpkin and – Voila! I thought it looked pretty cute… here are some close ups of the background printing options – love ‘em!

So that’s crafty me…now for the - 

hardworking three…

With the help of a rented lift, Poppa Olsen, and two little girls, Don got all the dead limbs from our backyard trees down before they became lethal with winter snow. I wish I had taken a picture of his arms afterward – between the ga-zillion scratches on his arms and legs, pulled shoulder muscles, two detached nails (one on his hand from a boulder and one on his toe from the doghouse) Don is creating a new meaning to “sacrifice” as he gives up precious time to create a safe and beautiful backyard for his family (it’s more appropriate to say “human” sacrifice at this point don’t you think?!) The girls made us proud with their hard working ethics and made us laugh when the girly-ness in them came out with the occasional squeal when they discovered spiders nest on the limbs they were carrying!

South View   (With extensive help from Kip & Blair bulldozing dirt, tearing up old cement pads, and cutting the trees back.)

Before:                                       After:

 

Center View

Before:                                       After:

North View

Before:                                       After:

We predict will be done with the backyard in…10 years-ish…

And finally…

Bizzie Girl turns 6!!!

Bizzie really wanted an Animal Friend Birthday Party – so we got together friends, masks, games (pin the trunk on the elephant, ring on a string), and cupcakes, turned the music way up, busted out our moves, and par-tayed!

The next day the Olsen’s threw a Pumpkin Party Bonfire and had another cake for her there! Thank you Aunt Heidi!!!

(I’ll take a moment to sneak in a non-birthday picture to commemorate Eli’s first bonfire. He seemed content being snuggled close by numerous of willing admirers…)

And to top off all the birthday mania – the Raymers took us up Hobble Creek Canyon and we celebrated her birthday once more with hotdogs, cupcakes, princess dresses (thank you Grandma Raymer!) and volleyball! Pictures coming soon… Man – turning 6 has never been celebrated more! Happy Birthday Bizzie Girl!!!!

And that’s it for this Hodge Podge Post!

Oh, fruit loved of “girlhood”! The old days recalling…

(This post is slightly embarrassing following the treadmill post…but – it is what it is…)

I love fall, love the smells, the holidays, the colors, the crispness – and with it comes pumpkins! I love the smell of baking pumpkins – like the smell of brand new pencils near the beginning of a school year, childhood memories come wafting  in with that delicious smell. So when I found this recipe in Better Homes and Gardens I HAD to try it right?! The scale wasn’t too pleased with the discovery but man, I was in heaven!!!

One of my favorite things about cooking is the little helpers that come clamoring around my legs to “help.” My girls and I are dough lovers – we love the taste of batters and have a hard time getting things into the oven before it all disappears so I have longed had to have the rule that if you want to taste the batter you have to help make it. I now look forward to all three girls  trying to find ways to help. Autumn usually comes in sheepishly too late with a “So, mom…need help tasting that to see if it’s turned out alright?” Bizzie loves to crack the eggs – batter tends to come out a bit crunchier with her at the helm. And Liberty usually comes up with her big deer eyes and frank request “help you?” Here is her favorite version of “help you?”

Love my girls… Love fall… love pumpkin flavors…

Treadmill Motivation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I feel like slowing down the pace on my treadmill I picture this guy behind me which works for a few more minutes then I have to visualize one of the girls on my shoulders to make it a few more:) What gets you moving?

Food For Thoughts…

Do you remember life before cell phones, texting and emailing? My life has actually expanded and improved because of the way it is utilized by my best friend.  Don is constantly looking for things to send me to brighten my day or to help me stay sane by giving me thoughts to ponder other than how to get industrial strength infant poo out of clothing and the fact that I’m insanely tired and just want to sleep and eat donuts…

Anyway… I just wanted to share my favorites with you:

• “What if you woke up tomorrow with only those things for which you expressed gratitude today?”

•  "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life," Jobs said during a Stanford commencement ceremony in 2005.
  "Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."
  "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
  -Steve Jobs

If you watch this video know that the baby buffalo will amazingly be just fine, BUT you have to watch it all the way to the end!

His greatest strength in our relationship is knowing how to make me laugh – like “bust a gut” make me laugh. And I get it’s his timing and the mood I’m in so if the following doesn’t do the same for you it’s ok. Sometimes I’ll be having a hard day and he seems to know so he’ll send me nonsense to take my mind off of me…

Or it is something completely out of the blue. I’ll text him the question “how are you?” and I get this picture in response …

It still makes me laugh –

My dear friend Crystal has that similar impeccable timing as Don and sent this series of pictures at a much needed time…

Anyway, thought these images and thoughts might shake up your day and add a little “umph” to it – Do you have anymore to add to my growing stash?

Summer is over…Flu season is here

And all I can say is…

Every now and then my snarky side comes out REALLY strong, as I was cleaning up my very sad Liberty who had thrown up in her sleep Rhino kept going off in my head, complete with psycho laugh. So farewell summer…hello flu.

On a more serious note, how cool is it that I can be at home (thanks to my awesome husband) and snuggle up with this precious, sad child?!

And watch how simple things can bring so much joy when you are sick, here she is when I asked if she wanted to watch her FAVORITE movie, The Last Unicorn, and have an Otter Pop…

My children are so gifted at getting me to slow down and helping me forget my schedule to enjoy “the moments” even the gross, throw-up ones, so I can snuggle with them, love them, and really be with them…

General Conference is on my mind right now and my mind goes back to one of my favorite talks given by Elder Ballard in the Spring of 2008 called “Daughters of God.” He quoted a woman I didn’t recognize but who I could completely relate with…

Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. … I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less” (Loud and Clear‍ [2004], 10–11).

Ain’t it the truth?! So bring it on flu season, let it begin!

Big Changes…Bigger Blessings

Wow. To say a lot has happened this summer would be the biggest understatement I have ever made! In the course of two weeks we welcomed Baby Eli, packed up our sweet little home of 6 years and moved around the block to our new home! It has taken until now for me to think beyond eating, sleeping, and unpacking – I’m now ready to branch out from the essentials!

Don has reserved the right to tell Elias’s story which is coming soon, but know our little Eli has nudged his way right into our hearts. He’s absolutely adored by all of us girls winning the nickname of “our little man” – and if you were to contest his cuteness you may find yourself in a scuff with his 3 protective, adoring sisters. “Is he a good sleeper” is the most common question I get and for all his sweetness, smiles (yep, he’s smiling already!), and engaging looks – the bags under my eyes, and few extra pounds I’ve gained (I tend to eat more when I’m super tired) since losing the baby weight should answer that sufficiently…

Coming home from the hospital is a mix of emotions for me: 1) I’m excited to be with ALL my children again and begin normal life 2) I’m terrified of trying to manage ALL my children and find normal life! The joy always wins out over the smatterings of baby blues and tiredness… Here is Eli home for the first time:

Here he is a few weeks later in his new home showing amazing head control: please ignore the slight chaos in the background and feel free to play “Finding Waldo” with the ever present, now “Caffeine-Free,” Diet Coke in the background:)

And finally, here is my baby boy today…I just want to eat him up!!! Oh, the sweetness.

Our sweet little house is empty and up for sale. It housed and sheltered us until we were busting at the seams, so awhile back Don and I began the process of praying for some direction on where to move our growing family, we considered all sorts of places throughout Utah County and seriously considered a few homes… but, as is the case when you let the Lord be apart of your decisions, He knew where we needed to be and we weren’t looking in the right place so we kept getting the red light on “our" choices. When a house became available in our ward we “knew” this is where we were suppose to be, but knowing and getting don’t always go easily hand in hand – perseverance, faith and many prayers later we closed on the house! I will always remember when Don told us it was ours…we had gotten into the habit of going for evening walks pass the house with the girls to look and dream. On one particular evening we went by the house, and Don looked at me and said, “It’s ours.” I looked at him hard and realized he meant it was actually ours, and I,being pregnant, cried. Packing up our house pregnant, then moving our belongings with a brand new baby would have been absolutely impossible, but with the help of our dear friend, Clint, and many numerous members of our ward it was done blessedly quick! I now enjoy a dishwasher and the knowledge that our children have the freedom to spread out and have privacy to ponder and play (we actually lost Liberty the first day in the house, we could hear her responding to our calls but couldn't locate her – she finally emerged from her hiding place in her sister’s closet where she colored herself like a tiger and christened the closet walls with similar markings….).

Here is our new home:

Landscaping is one of Don and my favorite hobbies, and this house came with a lot of landscaping potential! So weeds quickly gave way to bulldozing, leveling and with that came lots and lots of … dirt. The carefree days of my youth of not caring how high things were, how steep they were and how dirty they are allude me now – my kids? Not so much…   These next few pictures are the common results of shooing my kids out the door and telling them to go play, especially if Don gives them permission to include a hose…

Yep… life is back to normal.