September: New Arrival

This was a big month for us as we added our perfect Amelia Rose to our family. We could not be happier to have her here with us. Henry and Della call her Rosie and I didn't know that they would love her as much as they do. It is precious and makes my Mommy heart so happy. Henry will come up to her when she's crying and say, "It's ok Rosie, I'm here. It's me, your brother. I named you! You're safe." And Adeline has some magic ability to make Lia take a pacifier when nobody else can. It's safe to say that we are settling in to be a family of five just fine.

But Amelia didn't come until September 11, so we had a few things happen before she got here. The kids went to Aunt Desi's to do some pottery and they had a blast! And then one night I was so depressed about still being pregnant that Rusty brought me in some sparkling cider and told me to relax and take it easy. I seriously don't know how I got so lucky with that guy. He is my everything.

The weekend before I went into labor Rusty took the kids swimming at the Rec Center one last time and had some good quality time with them before the baby came. We also went for a long walk up Provo Canyon trying to get the baby to come out haha. It was SO hot so we got some ice cream and a shave ice and the kids played in the water a little bit. I was dying with my giant pregnant body.

On Friday I went into labor and wrote Amelia's birth story in another post. But on Sunday we got to take her home and let her meet the kids and her Papa for the first time! (She had already met her Grandma Julie). This is one of my favorite days of my life because Henry and Della were so excited to see her and finally meet her. They were so sweet with her! I knew that they would be good big siblings to her.

Most of September was just spent at home adjusting and savoring our time with a new baby. My parents took Henry and Della right away for a couple of days so that we could get some sleep and have some one on one time with Amelia, and I think that is the best thing that could have happened. It is so busy with three kids and I think I would have missed out on so much if I didn't have the special time just with her. She is such a sweet little baby and I love her so much! I did miss the other kids so much though, that I was so excited to finally have my whole family together. I didn't get them with me for a few days at the hospital and then a few days at my parents' so I was going through some serious withdrawls from my bigger babies.

Jessica came to visit and meet Amelia for the first time! After a while I got jealous of her holding her for so long and told her that I wanted Lia back. She said no way, and then I reminded her that she had been holding her for two hours. Jessica had no idea that it had been that long haha!

While my parents still had the older kids, we gave Lia her first bath and took her on her first walk. I seriously love not being pregnant haha. It feels so good to have my body back again, even while it is still recovering. The walk was perfect and it felt so great to be outside enjoying the great weather. Lia was definitely unsure of her first bath, but we have high hopes that she will like it as much as her siblings in a few weeks!

She just laid like this for a long time after the bath haha. She had no idea what happened to her!

Her first real outing was to the doctor. She is growing great and is almost back up to her birth weight already! I guess all those feedings are paying off haha. This girl loves to eat, and she eats every hour or maybe every two hours. Hopefully for this mama she starts to spread it out a little bit more.

She is so tiny in that carseat!

This month Rusty accepted a calling to be a high councilor! It will be a big time commitment for an already overscheduled man, but he accepted it graciously and willingly. He also has gotten his first CASA family and spends time with them every week. I don’t know how he does it all, but I am so grateful for him and look up to him and his example so much. He is so good at serving people, and doing it willingly.

We still spent a lot of time outside this month, and it is wonderful. The weather started to cool off and the days were pretty perfect. Kelsey gave me this baby dome and we have used it almost every single day. It is the best! We have gone out for picnics, reading, playing, and naps. 

Henry brought me these special rocks

The kids love their Rosie. They love to help get things for her, pick out her outfits, read her stories and talk to her. They both especially love to hold her and give her snuggles. They are so sweet with her and I am so grateful!

We had a really sad thing happen this month. Henry and Della were out waving goodbye to Rusty when he was leaving for work, and Della slipped and fell off of our concrete step. She was bleeding a lot and her tooth was bent back really far.  I called the dentist and then we took her in, and I was so surprised she didn't even need stiches! I took her to get ice cream and to the park and she was in such a good and positive mood even with all of that going on. She is so resilient and so sweet. I was shocked that her tooth moved back on its own quite a bit before we even made it to the dentist a few hours after it happened. The mouth is crazy cool at healing itself!

We also had a chance to take Daddy to South Fork where we do Nature School. It was amazing to watch the kids show Rusty around and show real ownership of this place that they spend so much time. We hiked around a little bit and Henry showed Rusty the beaver ponds that he wants to go fishing in.

One week and a day after Amelia was born we did the newborn pictures. They turned out really well, but we were all really tired afterwards. We had our first movie party as a family of five! I love little things like that.

We started going back to story time at the University Mall. They do the coolest things there! They had actors come and tell the stories. My kids love it!

Henry's Highlights

• I got a bunch of parenting books/nature books and Henry asked what they all were. I told him that they were books to teach me how to be a better mom and he said, "But you're already a good mom you don't need all those books. But I do wish I got bacon more often." HAHA
• Says, "What's between...?" to ask what makes things different.
• "Do you like all of my inventions? Can you believe they all came from ideas from my brain head?"
• He is completely obsessed with taking pictures of things. It drives me nuts haha! He wants a picture of everything, including his bath water colors. 
• Started saying, "Can we do that more often?" all of the time. Like even while we are still doing the activity haha.

Adeline's Adventures

• She doesn't like peanut butter!!!!
• Started saying, "I never had that/do that!!" for pretty much anything-movies, treats, etc. 
• "I'm the mom but me won't be bossy."
• Can pump herself on the swing like a pro!
• She makes everything into a computer and pretends to work.
• Says, "I done" but it sounds like "I dumb" and it makes me and Rusty laugh haha. She can't say the l or r sound, and always replaces the n sound with the m sound. I love how she talks, but I'm pretty sure she'll have to do speech therapy.

Amelia's Updates

• She has the absolute cutest little chin quiver I've ever seen! She does it when she's sad, but it's her pretend sad so it's ok.
• She squawks like a bird or screeches like a monkey.
• When she grabs my finger I think there can't be anything better in the world.
• She smiles in her sleep and we cannot WAIT to see it when she's awake.
• She has crazy eyes
• First book: September 15. If Animals Kissed Like We Kiss Goodnight

Extra Pictures