Rachel - 8 years old

Rachel turned 8 years old. We were going to have a friends from school come over for a party, but she really wanted to go see all her cousins up north. So, the weekend before her birthday, we went and had a party and helped Aunt Carla move into her new mansion. Here are all the cousins with ice cream, cake, and smiles. We were so happy to see everyone!

Rachel drew a picture of what she wanted on her cake, and it turned out better than I thought it would. So, there is the picture, the cake, and the happy 8 year old! We love you Rachel!

Michael and Bonnie

Michael and Bonnie's family came up to see us...and our new baby. We love it when they come. They are always so fun to talk to, and our children are so excited to have cousins to play with.

Michael, Bonnie, and Rebekah

Nora and Katie

Clark, David, and Nathan

Sarah and Lily

Thanks for coming!

MorePictures

We took some pictures of Rebekah. The purple outfit drowns her, but Katie insisted she was so cute in it, so we took some pictures anyway. We had fun dressing her up !

Rebekah Eve

Rebekah Eve was born last week. She was 7.3 lbs, 18 1/2 inches. We are all so excited to have her!

Nathan has been so cute to hold out his arms and calls her "Bekah". He holds her for a few seconds, then says, "Done", and hands her back.

All five of our sweet children. Everyone loves to hold Rebekah, and asks about her whenever she is out of sight. Our life has changed dramatically this week, but we have looked forward to this wonderful change.

To follow up on a previous post, we did do this birth naturally. I say "we", because I couldn't have done it without David helping me, especially through the last hour. We left home at 10:45, it took 20 minutes to get to the hospital and she was born at 11:50. She came so quickly, the doctor didn't make it and the nurses delivered her. We love her so much, and are so happy to finally have her in our arms!

Sarah - 4 years old

We are a few days early on these pictures, but I was in St. George, it was good weather, I have no idea when this baby is coming, and Sarah looked so darn cute. We were going to go to a different place, but she saw the temple and thought it was the most beautiful place we could go to get beautiful pictures...and I couldn't argue with that. We did all right, these are the ones I liked the best, and tweeked a bit. She is so sweet and I can't believe she'll be four in just a few days!

I am having a hard time choosing my favorite, so any opinions would be helpful. I can only choose one for the front room!
She is a definite cheeser, but we got a few true smiles in there. She is beautiful!

3 1/2 Weeks

In the last eight months, I've been gearing myself up for something I've wanted to do ever since our first child, but have never made it. Natural Child Birth.

Most comments I get after announcing that are:

"Wow, you go girl."
"Why?"
"Did you know they can make it painless?"
"To each his own...."

And so on....

Yep, sure know all of that. I KNOW all of that. Heck, I know its going to hurt like heck. But, here are some of my thoughts.

1. The pain. I love what my friend Kim said about this. You have to set your mind to recognize the body working. I have read some amazing books, and the pain I have experienced, that I am so afraid of, can be worked through. Don't get me wrong, its not that the pain will go away, but perceiving it as work and that our body is preparing itself for the most amazing experience a woman can have, that is different. The mind can prepare you, the mind can be told what it is experiencing, and change something insurmountable, into something challenging yet attainable.

2. With Nathan, my body didn't dilate, yet I knew I was in labor, yet the doctors wouldn't admit me or give me any anesthetic. I didn't know how to handle it. And when I did start to dilate, it was so quick, the epidural didn't react fast enough, and I was so numbed up by the time he was here, you could have tied my body in lovely bow. I need to know how to work through labor. I want to be able to have my husband be there right with me, and him knowing I can't do this alone, I need him. It may seem dramatic, but I look forward to David being able to help me through this, and using him to be a sort of relief to relieve some of the discomforts...to know I am working through a contraction and that by pushing on pressure points, getting me a pillow, supporting my back, or whatever I'll ask, he'll be there. I hope it brings us closer together.

3. We have four wonderful children. I have had an epidural each time. I HATE that cold feeling down my back when the epidural is in. I HATE the shock they warn you about when the epidural is going in. I HATE being hooked up to IVs. And I HATE that I fear for my body each time. By that, I mean that I know that everything could go wrong with an epidural. Tapping into someone's spine is not a light thing. Your spine is a central part of your body, and by tapping into it, severe problems could result. Like I said, its the one thing I have even worried about the last four births, because I know my child will be fine, but I pray I will not be a vegetable by the time they are done.

My purpose in writing this is not to convince anyone to have a natural birth. It is mainly to convince myself to have a natural birth.

I am 3 1/2 weeks away from delivering our fifth child. We are excited. I am in terror some days of what I will experience, but I know I can do it. I've prepared my mind by reading all I can on ways to work through labor. I've prepared physically. I stretch and walk every day. I have a spiritual reassurance that things will be fine, and I can do this. And I have the positive support of my husband.

3 1/2 weeks.

Katie, Beautiful Katie

We were a little late getting up into the canyon this year, so my leafy fall background was all over the ground. We were able to get some cute pictures anyway. Katie chose her dress and how we did her hair. She is so beautiful! Here are the best of the pictures.