Scarlett 5 Years Old

Scarlett made me a mother and for that she will always hold a special place in my heart. This little girl has so many admirable qualities and is a great example to every member the family. I have loved watching her grow and learn this year. These past couple of months she has learned to write all her  letters (upper and lower case), her first name, her numbers, and started sounding out words. Lately we have been reading very easy books called Bob books. She can sound out and read all the words. When she finishes each book her smile is fantastic and I can feel confidence. Scarlett loves preschool and choosing the right. If she has good manners at school and is kind she gets to move her "clip" up to purple. Every day she jumps in the car and says "mom, i moved my clip up to purple today!'.  I love that she understand right from wrong and takes joy in choosing the right choice. 

This past year she has grown in understanding gospel principles. She knows not to lie, steal, and be mean and loves making "Jesus super happy". We have been reading the scriptures nightly and learning the stories of the Book of Mormom. I love hearing her ask questions about versus we read and then see her contemplate our answers. When Jackson was born she had lots of questions about where he came from. I told her that Jack came from heaven and used to live with our Heavenly Father and Jesus. She then said "So Jackson is our family's special gift. Jesus gave him to us". I look at Jack now and always think about how he is such a wonderful gift to our family. 

This past fall she loved playing soccer with her friends. She came really far this season and by the end was confident in kicking the ball and almost scored a couple goals. Yesterday she learned to ride a 2 wheel bike and I was shocked at how quickly she picked it up. She road up and down our street with the biggest smile I have ever seen. Her cousin Wesley found out she could ride a bike and insisted that he learn too. They both look so cute riding together!

Scarlett is a sweet and tender little girl. She takes joy in making others around her happy and in doing the right thing. I can tell she will be patient with her younger siblings and already is with Alice. She whispers in my ear daily that she loves my and that I am the best mom. When Alice and Jack take naps I get to snuggle with her on the coach and practice her reading. I love this special time with just her.  I hope she always keeps her positive out look on life and her love of all things good!  

Eating her birthday breakfast of Dad's eggs and toast...her favorite.

We celebrated with friends at Mcdonalds. She had Tinkerbell cupcakes, My Little Pony Balloons, and Frozen treats. All her favorites into one crazy party. 

She is such a big hearted big sister. Jack and Alice will forever be blessed because of her.

 5 year old Interview

Favorite color- magenta

Favorite book- Sticker book and Bob Books

Favroite Song- I am a child of God

Favorite TV show- My Little Pony

Favorite Activity- Coloring pictures (she is very creative and spends hours coloring at our kitchen table each day)

Favorite Toy- Her markers,crayons, and color pencils.  She loves caring small toys in her hand everywhere

Favorite Food- Cereal and can pore it herself

Favorite Resturante- cafe rio and requested we go there for her birthday dinner

Best Friend- Alice

What she wants to be when she grows up- "make dinner, sit at the computer, and get kids food" aka a mom:)

If she could go anywhere in the world where would it be- Grandmas House

We gave her a new princess bike for her birthday and she learned to ride it a couple days later. I was shocked how quickly she found her balance and took off. She can even start and stop all by her self too. I love seeing her beautiful smile while she rides and rides. If it was up to her she would be on her bike all day and night.

Jackson 1 month

Little Jack is such a sweet addition to our family. He brings out the best in everyone, even Alice. I find myself being more patient when he is in my arms. Scarlett is her most helpful self when Jack is awake and in need of attention. Alice is surprisingly sweet and tender when she is snuggling next to him. And Nick... well, he is usually on his best behavior. 

He is a very calm and peaceful little boy. When is baby needs are met he never cries and is content looking around at all the craziness of our household. He takes a 3 hour afternoon nap and is in bed by 8:30. Both of those help me have some time to gather myself and get stuff done (aka nap). His nights can be good or bad with good nights happening more and more often. It's crazy to think that I have gone a month with sleeping only 2 hour intervals. What does a straight 6 hours even feel like?! 

I love that he is such a good eater and loves to fall asleep while nursing. He seems most content when he is sleeping right next to me and I love it. I even got a little smile out of him yesterday. He is a wonderful baby and we all love "baby brother" (what the girls always call him)

3 weeks In

I am three weeks into having three kids and so far we are surviving. I have learned very quickly that the name of the game is patience! Unfortunately, that is not my strong point. Fortunately, my sweet children are very forgiving. I have to be patient with a crying baby, needy children, tired husband, and stressed self. I keep telling myself over and over to just go easy on everyone around me especially me! I just wish I was born with more patience. It's a work in progress as is every redeemable character trait. 

Having a newborn is an interesting life event. On one hand I want so badly to enjoy this tiny baby and hold him all the time. On the other hand I want so badly for this super demanding phase to be over. I want him to just sleep soundly on my shoulder but I also want to have a peaceful moment without kids (even cute ones that sleep on you). What I do know is that I love him and I love seeing my little girls mother him. Scarlett sits at his bouncer and repeatedly puts his pacifier back in his mouth. Alice has to kiss his head and give him a hug every time she runs past. I love hearing Scarlett tell me how she wants to be a mother one day and have a baby just like Jack. There are moments when I feel bad for my girls as they have been neglected and forced to fend for themselves. But then I see how much they love each other and their brother and I remember that having siblings is always worth the sacrifice! 

I got close to 400 pictures. Most looked like this. I laughed for days after looking through them all!

I know in my heart that I am living the best days of my life. At this moment Jack is nestled in my arms and Scarlett/Alice are running around in princess attire...life is pretty good!

Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving was different this year due to having a 2 week old. It was a blur! I was sleep deprived and still trying to figure out how to do three kids (not much has changed this week). But it still was a great holiday weekend. So great that I only took 4 pictures. Sometimes you just have to enjoy the moment.

The Ashtons came down for the long weekend which always means fun. Scarlett and Alice love playing with Charly and Paisley. I love being able to hang out with all my sisters. We cook and plan out black friday. It is always a treat to be with family.  I am so thankful to having family close especially these past weeks. They take care of my children, bring me food, and give me great advice. Holidays would not be the same without all the wonderful people I love.

I am so thankful for my little family. Thankful for a kind and understanding husband. Thankful for 2 little girls that always love me and forgive me for my shortcomings, especially these past couple of weeks. Thankful for a healthy and calm baby boy. But most of all I am thankful that they are mine forever!!

The "kids table" all decorated.

Making christmas candy with grandpa

Jack meeting Grandpa and Sandra

Bowling before Thanksgiving with cousins. There are just cousins everywhere...what lucky girls!

Jack's Birth Story

It was after Alice's birth that the thought "maybe I should do a natural birth next time" came through my mind. My babies are small, pregnancies are uncomplicated, and delivers go very smooth. A natural birth, I thought, was something I could do and actually enjoy. I honestly did not think about it again until just a couple weeks ago. I was listening to my older sister share wonderful birth stories of her natural delivers and I remembered how it was something I wanted to try. I really wanted Nick more involved in the labor/delivery this time around and I wanted a more spiritual and dare I say "earthy" experience as well. Nick was hesitant at first but then we started educating ourselves on natural birth and he realized that we could do it! We crammed a whole pregnancies worth of education into just 4 weeks. I was definitely nervous/scared but everything went perfectly. I can look back on all three of my children's' births, as different as they are, with the most fond memories and I feel very blessed for that. Here is Jackson's natural birth story.

I woke up Wednesday Nov 12th not feeling very well. I had very little energy and felt achy. I had a feeling it was going to be my last day with just two little girls and I wanted to spend it with them. I took Scarlett to preschool and then Alice and I went to the library. She sat on my lap while I read her books and I loved watching her sing all the songs at story time. While Alice took a nap Scarlett and I colored and practiced her letter sounds. Nick had a seminar on Wednesday so in the evening I headed to my moms to let the girls play dress up and in the back yard. I was having contractions on/off all day and while over at my moms I could tell they were getting a little worse. I decided I better head home. Nick was there to meet me and quickly put the girls down for bed. My contractions were not regular but were slowly becoming more painful. I teased Nick that right when we laid down for bed the contractions were going to get worse and that the baby was going to come in the middle of night. Sure enough I woke up at 12am to contractions about 10 minutes apart. I woke Nick up and told him this baby was coming today! For the next 3 hours I just labored at home and timed contractions. They slowly became longer, more painful, and closer together. I did nothing fancy while laboring at home. I walked around for a bit and then when it was too painful to stand I laid down. I focused on staying relaxed and breathing. The three hours went by very quickly!

I knew it was time to call my mom when I started to get anxious and my emotions went from calm to "okay its go time". The contractions were 4-5 minutes apart when my mom arrived. Nick gave me a blessing, I kissed my sleeping girls, and we headed to the hospital (which is 2 minutes away). I arrived at the ER 4:11 am ( I was looking at the clock while they were getting a wheel chair). I was hoping I was at least 5 cm when they checked me. I knew I could finish the natural process if I was that far along. When my nursed checked me her eyes got huge and she said "well momma you are a 7 or 8. With this being your third baby I am going to call the doc right now!!". Nick and I cheered and gave each other a high five. I felt so much joy to have labored that far. It was about 4:30-4:40 when I could feel transition hit.  The contractions became very intense with very little rest in between. It took work to breath through them and I found myself building up a sweat. They wheeled me to my room just in time for me to lose it! I had to be lifted onto the triage bed to the delivery bed, I could not even think about standing. Breathing became nearly impossible and I started to cry out/scream when the contractions hit. Pain is an understatement!! My nurse and Nick were amazing and when a contraction came I locked eyes with them and tried my best to not hold my breath, which meant I screamed. I have never needed Nick so much in my life. I gripped onto his hand as tightly as I could and locked eyes with him at each contraction. Nick and my nurse would guide me through the contraction telling me that I was on the downward slop. They would repeat over and over "if you can go up then you can go down". That phrase saved me. At this point I was dripping with sweat and my voice hurt... from screaming. They kept on calling my doctor telling him to drive faster. When my water broke about 5am my nurse pulled in the doctor on call and she quickly put on gloves. My nurse was amazing and despite it being protocol to "check me" after my water broke she didn't when I asked her not to. She said "honey I have birthed a lot of babies and if you say you are ready to push then I believe you!" Bless her soul! I was about to start pushing when my doctor arrived and said "well, there was no question which room you were in" (he knew I was going natural and I was very vocal at this point). He threw on some gloves and the next contraction I pushed. I pushed harder than I ever thought I could and felt more pain than I ever thought humanly possible. It took me a couple contractions to figure out how to push but I caught on quick and then it took 3 contractions to push him out. Two pushes were spent pushing out his head and then I pushed out his baby body. It was those 2 contractions that I spend pushing out his head that I will never forget. It was the most immense pain and when I closed my eyes the whole world went away. I felt for a moment that I was between life and death and even though I knew the pain would not kill me I felt I had died. I pushed harder wanting it to be over. I had a moment to breath and then the next contraction hit. I closed my eyes and pushed. I told myself that with this contraction my son would be born. Once again the world faded away and I knew that Jackson and I were both at the same point...between heaven and Earth.  It was the most beautiful feeling, to have the veil of heaven so thin and to know new life was just a moment away. His cry was gorgeous and with only one more push I felt his body come into the world.  They put him on my chest and I told him that I had worked very hard to see him. Nick gave me a kiss and then a high five. We had done it!! I will never forget those special moments during his birth and will hold them as some of my most spiritual experiences.

Jackson Alexander was born at 5:22 (an hour after arriving at the hospital) and weighed 7.4 pounds. He is literally a piece of heaven in our home and we could not love him more.

My recovery has been amazing. I was up walking around 10 minutes after he was born. I only to take motrin in the hospital and I have had zero headaches (which I had with my epidrual). 

Mom duties still continue. Little girls need pony tails.

Oh Alice I adore you. This made me laugh for a good 5 minutes.

homeward bound