Christmas 2014

My mom spent Christmas with us this year. She said it was the first time in her life she was away from her parents on Christmas- and she's 53! Sadly, my dad stayed in California.

Christmas Eve was spent at our Bishop's house. The Wheatleys were so kind to invite us in their home because they know we don't have family around. We had a great dinner, acted out the nativity, opened a present, had dessert, and sang a few carols.

Macy, Ja, and Grandma decorated gingerbread houses.

Macy getting dressed as the angel.

Anna getting dressed up as Mary #2.

The kids were great in the nativity. Ja did great as the voice of the angel. Macy was too shy to say her lines so Ja put her on her shoulders and said her lines in a girly voice. It was hilarious.

Anna wouldn't get off the donkey's lap (Emily)

Macy and Katherine sang a Christmas song for the group.

Our girls LOVE Emily!

Everything is all set up for Christmas morning!

We had a quiet first Christmas in our home this year. The girls opened presents until 10:40 am. They had so many! 

Anna needed a little help unwrapping.

Macy loved her pajama pants from Aunt Stacie.

I love my new watch!

All this present unwrapping wiped Owen out.

Showing off their new dresses from Grandma.

I had his newspaper and magazine articles framed.

Something unusual happened this year. Every time Macy opened a present she would say thank you very excitedly and run and give me or Ja a hug. For some reason she has a hard time saying thank you without being reminded (for anything, not just gifts). I realized we have the Wheatley's to thank for this. On Christmas Eve every time a child opened a present they would say thank you and run and give the gift giver a big hug. I thought it was sweet and I'm glad Macy was paying attention!

Then at 11 we had our neighbors Ron and Danny over for brunch. They didn't have any family coming to celebrate so Ja invited them over for stuffed French toast. Christmas Eve I decided to make cinnamon rolls so we had those too. 

We realized cinnamon rolls on Christmas is a tradition for us now. I've done it two years in a row so that makes it a tradition. 

The rest of the day was spent lazily playing and watching movies.

For dinner we had a semi-formal dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, and Martinelli's. I actually really enjoyed having a slow Christmas that wasn't filled rushing around or chaos. It was just our family and it was very enjoyable. 

Macy Noel turns 5!

This girl made me a mom five years ago! When I dreamed if being a mom I had no idea how much joy a child could bring into my life. Macy has been bringing us joy for 5 years now.

Macy was thrilled to open granny Dot's candy letter and money. She's yelling "thank you" in this picture. I asked her, "isn't it cool granny Dot made you a letter out of candy bars?" She replied, "yeah, cuz she's Candy Dot!"

Ja made cheese blintzes for breakfast per Macy's request. Turns out she doesn't like the cheese in the middle but likes the crepe. Then she requested pancakes and sausages-that-look-like-hotdogs for dinner.

During the day my mom and Ja took the girls to Chuck E Cheeses to celebrate Macy. They had a great time! For about an hour Macy and my mom looked at pictures of me when I was growing up. They had some great bonding time together.


We had a little celebration the night of her birthday with a few friends from church. We had cake and ice cream and a house full of girls.

 Emily (Macy's favorite babysitter), Macy, and Alyssa

Macy, Alyssa, Kinzley

Charlotte, Corrina, Emily, Macy, Anna, Alyssa, Kinzley

I love this smile! She was so happy to be the birthday girl!

Macy with her new castle doll house. She set it all up just for the picture.

We originally thought of having her party December 20th. It's a good thing we held off! Having a 3 day old baby with a house full of 5 year olds would not have been good. 

We talked her into having a party in January instead. She wants to invite her whole preschool class. She also said she wants to play pin the crown on the queen, have a Frozen cake, and direct how the party goes. At one point she wanted to go caroling to the neighbors too. We'll see how the party turns out...

Baby Owen

I love having a newborn in the house again. They come with their own special spirit and are a piece of heaven in our lives. Owen is such a great newborn and is the cutest little boy I've ever seen :)

Tonight Macy asked me to get up early and get dressed and get Owen dressed. She will wake up early and get dressed so no one will hear her. She wants uninterrupted time holding Owen by herself. Seriously, look at this genuine Macy smile! She loves holding him!

Today Macy fed Owen a bottle, burped him, and held him while I put Anna down for her nap. I was quite impressed!

Anna still loves "holding" Owen too. With her we put a pillow on her lap and he pretty much just lies on the pillow. Thankfully she has become less possessive of him. Although when she sees Macy holding him she can often be heard to say, "I hold it! I hold it!" This furthers my thought that she thinks Owen is a doll and why Macy wants alone time with Owen. 

Anna is very helpful and gets a diaper and a wipe whenever I ask her too. She loves to pop in and say "a-low" (hello) to Owen when he's in the bassinet or lying down on our bed. The stool is nearby so she can easily pop in and out. 

Anna also loves to read baby brudder books. She gets up on her stool and reads book after book to him. When she runs out she rushes back to her room to grab more. She will read to him while he is in the swing too. I think this is so adorable. 

Baby Owen is adored by his sisters- and his mom! I cry for joy just looking at his face. It is little, round, and perfect. His tiny toes are the cutest toes I've ever seen. I love skin to skin time with this boy. 

He is figuring out breast feeding which is nice. I have to undress him most of the time to keep him awake and change diapers too. He is only 5 days old and born early at 37 weeks so he is very sleepy naturally. In the hospital the lactation consultant gave me good tips and advice which will make Owen and I successful with time and patience. He's not tongue tied which is good to know. He's good at sucking, he just falls asleep eating so it takes a lot of work to wake him up. I'll take it though! He's the sweetest baby and I can't wait to raise him up!

Ja will be a great dad to our son! I can't wait to see them playing basketball together some day. 

Owen, I love you so much and love you from the second the doctor put you in my arms. You are my son and I will love you forever. 

He's here!

 
Owen Wesley DeVore was born on December 17,2014 at 5:11 pm. He weighed 7 lbs 3.9 oz and was 20 inches long. He came by surprise but I'm so glad he's here, he's healthy, and he was early!

Wednesday December 10th I has a routine doctors appointment. I had gained a good amount of weight since by last appointment. The nurse commented, "someone enjoyed their thanksgiving!" My feet and ankles started to get very swollen so I blame that for the weight gain. At this appointment my blood pressure was elevated for the first time. The doctor wanted me to go back in on Monday to have my blood pressure monitored again. 

Monday the 15th came and my blood pressure was still high. The doctor had me do some blood work and do a 24 urine collection. 

Now it's Wednesday the 17th. My doctor called around 8 am telling me my blood work came back abnormal (low platlets) and my urine had protein in it. She wanted me to go to the hospital for more blood pressure testing an blood work. That way if my BP is high again they could admit me and induce me. I really need to be careful what I wish for! I was bummed because I really wanted to see Macy's Christmas pageant at school tonight. When I told her I probably wouldn't be going she was a good sport about it and was very excited baby brother would be coming. 

After I dropped Macy off at preschool I learned they would be rehearsing and I could watch that. I was glad I got to see Macy as a stable duck and sing "O little town of Bethlehem."

Then I drove myself to the hospital (which strangely enough is the second time I've done that). The nurse hooks me up to the blood pressure monitor an it reads 180/105. She hooks me up to an IV and says,  " I don't think you'll be going anywhere." So that's when I frantically try and find someone to watch the girls so Ja can come to the hospital with me. 

I dressed in the hospital gown and settled in. I had to have my blood pressure taken every 15 minutes all throughout the day and night. I was given the drug magnesium which is given to patients with high blood pressure on pictocin. Magnesium is an awful drug to be on! It made me really hot, thirsty, and have a dry mouth. Then it made me feel like I had the flu- shaky, achy, hot, cold, and all around terrible. I had to have it 24 hours after giving birth too. I got no sleep the first night in the hospital because of it. I was really glad I had a catheter in because I drank water constantly and would have been in the bathroom all night. 

Back to labor-

Ja made it to the hospital and they broke my water. I was dilated to a six when they did this. The pictocin in combination with my water breaking made the contractions pretty painful. I was trying to hold off on the epidural because knew recovery without it was better. I was dilating as quickly as I hoped so I opted for the epidural. I didn't know how much longer I could handle the contractions. The same thing happened with Owen as it did with Anna- as soon as the epidural was in I felt the need to push him out. So I had another natural birth but will have to pay for the epidural! I need to have more faith in myself!

Owen was a little bigger than the girls so it was harder to push his head out. I had to push three times to get his head out.  After the second time I wanted to give up because it hurt so bad. But there's only one way to stop the pain and that is to push him out! I didn't even feel his shoulders come out. I must have blocked that part out of memory. I do remember the placenta coming out and that hurting. I also remember having a bunch of people in the room. It must have been a slow night because everyone was in my room. I had a great nurse, Trisha, who stayed with me the first few days of my hospital stay.

 A nurse took a picture of the clock when he was born so we could remember what time it was. That's kind of fun to have.

My blood pressure wasn't going down like the doctors wanted. They had to up my dodge of medication and I had to stay an extra day in the hospital. When I walked into the delivery room Wednesday morning I didn't expect to stay in the same room until Saturday afternoon. 

First time meeting little Owen!

Macy is smiling here with pure joy. She loves her little brother!

I love Anna's face as she eagerly looks over at baby brudder. She was very anxious to hold him.

Anna is also smiling with pure joy while holding her little brother!

The girls were so sweet and brought a bag of books to read to Owen. (Technically at this first meeting he was still nameless.)

I hesitate to put this picture of me on here because I look terrible. But it's an honest representation of how I felt.

Finally Friday night my blood pressure was remaining stable. It was still on the high side for me but wasn't spiking or getting higher. Now I have to take the medicine for 6-8 weeks to make sure my blood pressure goes all the way back to normal. 

Sometimes I got lonely in my room but overall it was nice to relax with my new little baby. Ja would bring the girls in to visit once or twice a day. The lady who delivered my food thought the girls were so cute and always gave them food and drinks. 

Macy and Anna loved holding baby brudder. They would take turns holding him. Anna was very possessive of him. 

Macy brought Owen gifts when she came to visit. The nurses thought it was so cute. 

Proud father and cute son. 

Breakfast with Santa

Our HOA put on a breakfast with Santa and the neighborhood kids had a blast. Ja is on the HOA board and is in charge of the social activities (surprising, I know) so he and our two neighbors who are also on the board planned this breakfast. The night before we went on a family trip to Costco and bought pastries, drinks, and fruit. Our neighbor Jackie brought hot chocolate, Chik-fil-a breakfast sandwiches, and bagels. We had a good turn out of about 50 people and still had a lot of food left over! The Elder's Quorum and Young Women in our ward were very excited that Ja and I brought them treats the next day of the big Costco muffins.

Of course the highlight was having Santa with us. He was a really great Santa. I was worried because I imagined him being like the fake Santa in Elf with the fake beard and who smells like beef and cheese and sits on a throne of lies. Unlike him, our Santa was the real deal! 

We set up a special chair for Santa in the tent. The morning was cold but that tent was toasty warm. We put down our Christmas rug so the kids could have a spot to sit on while Santa read us a story. He also allowed the kids to ask him any question they might have about the North Pole. 

Macy was so excited to be in Santa's presence! 

Just look at that face of excited anticipation! It melts my heart how happy she was to be with Santa.

Anna was more excited about liking the cream cheese off her bagel. 

Santa read The Night Before Christmas. I should say recited because he had the story memorized.

Then we sang Jingle Bells.

Each child had a chance to sit on Santa's lap and tell him his or her Christmas wishes. I love Macy's smile!

If you look in the above picture, you'll noticed a red ball of tinsel in the tree. Macy had wrapped a present for Santa in that tinsel. It was a red stocking ornament from our tree.

Isn't that sweet of her to give Santa a present?

After most of the people left the breakfast Macy got some great one-on-one time with Santa. He very well could have left (we told him he could leave early) but he stayed to do crafts with the remaining kids. Macy was in heaven. The night before she talked about doing crafts with Santa, eating with him, and coloring with him. I wasn't sure if that would happen so I was trying to nicely explain to her that Santa is busy and might not have time for all of that. She knew what she was talking about because her wishes came true!

Who gets to have Santa make Christmas ornaments with them?! Macy is a lucky girl!

This picture sums up how Anna felt about Santa this year. I'm surprised I was able to stand that close to him.

Santa also roasted marshmallows with the kids. As the adults were cleaning up the kids brought their bikes out to ride around the parking lot. Santa watched them ride their bikes for a little bit then he was off to the North Pole! It was a great breakfast and we had a great time with Santa.