Arrival

Well it is all over. Or rather, it has only just begun. On Thursday morning we called in to the hospital and they said they were too full at that time but they would call when they had a spot for me. We tried to stay busy all morning so we wouldn't go crazy waiting.

After lunch we still hadn't heard anything so I decided to take a nap because I hadn't slept well the night before. I fell asleep for about 5 minutes when Terry came in and said they had called and were ready for us. Yippee!!!! So we called the Relief Society pres in our ward who had said she would watch our kids for us and she came over and we were off.

When we got to the hospital they started me on pitosin to get my contractions regular. Then the doctor came in and broke my water (it is amazing how much water is stored in the womb--it never seemed to run out). They also said I could get an epidural when I wanted so I said--how about now. But when the anisthesiologist came in she said, you aren't in pain. How about waiting and getting an intrathecal instead. She had me talked into it (I would have had to wait till I was almost all the way dilated to get it) but then she changed her mind and thought it would be better for me to have an epidural. So I got one. It was great except my left side wasn't numb. I had one little window where I felt the contractions, so I was still in pain. But having the rest of me numb made it bearable.

Three and a half hours after they broke my water, I was ready to push. By that time I felt like I was surrounded by friends (which can be good or bad) because the nurse is my brother-in-laws neice and the resident who delivered (along with my doctor) works with Terry and they had become friends. So everyone was joking around. Anyway, I started pushing and it only took one push and Isaacs head was out. Then after a rest and a few more little pushes his body was out.




My favorite part of having a baby is when all the sudden that wriggling creature in my body becomes a real human and I hear his little cry and see his little body. Anyway, Isaac was born weighing 7 pounds 9 ounces and he was 21 1/2 inches long. We are naming him Isaac James Anderson.




The kids came on Friday morning to see Isaac and they were all really excited--except Sam who was more interested in other things. The kids look a little scraggly in the pictures, but Terry told me he did try to do their hair.




We stayed in the hospital for 24 hours and then went home despite all my talk about staying for as long as possible. Terry talked me out of it because we had arranged for all the kids to be gone so he said he could be a good nurse to me at home and we would save lots of money. I was skeptical about it, but in the end I was glad we came home. I had a great nights sleep that first night and it really was better to be home and just be able to enjoy Isaac without the other kids around for a few hours.

Anyway, Terry has been taking good care of us all. I am grateful he is able to be home for a few days and give me a chance to recover. And I am so glad to have the delivery over and that Isaac is healthy and so am I.

Enduring

I already typed something once and hit the wrong button so it was all erased. GRRRRRR!!! So I am going to try again. But this will be more brief. I still have a baby kicking me in the ribs and I have no signs that delivery is imminent. However, on Wednesday the doctor told me he would induce me next Thursday morning if I want. So that is the plan, but I am doing all I can to go into labor before then. Well not all I can. I draw the line at taking castor oil.

I am trying to keep busy each day because I get really grouchy if I sit around and think and wait. Yesterday I drove to Rexburg to see Jodi who had her baby on Wednesday morning. I have been praying that she would have a good labor because her last two were such horrible experiences. This one was great. She had an epidural and she only had to push for 10 minutes and it was all over. Adelle was born weighing 6 pounds 3 ounces and she is so cute and tiny. She did get everyones heartrate up when she had the cord wrapped around her neck a couple of times. The midwife delivering had to cut the umbilical cord before the baby was out, something she has done only once in the last ten years. But everything is fine.

Tonight our kids were so wound up. It was one of those nights when I feel overwhelmed by them. It started out with Ainsley breaking an ornament in K-mart because she wouldn't stop touching the Christmas trees. Then at dinner she spilled a couple of glasses of water. All the kids were being crazy so we told them to go get ready for bed. They all got their pajamas on (except Sam) and then ended up in the bathroom together. Not good. Terry and I just looked at each other. He finally went and got the camera just to document what he was going to find. He found Sam chewing on two toothbrushes that weren't his, Abby and Ainsley washing their feet, and Ellie doing what she was supposed to. There was water everywhere. As I cleaned up the bathroom, I imagined having another little baby screaming in the background and I wondered if I am going to survive the next few years. Probably only with divine intervention. Anyway, I am going to try and post the video clip Terry took.

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving for this year was pretty quiet. I think it is funny because we moved back to Idaho where all of our family is and then everyone left for the holidays. Well almost everyone.

We started out the festivities on Wednesday for Terry's sake because he had to work Thanksgiving day. Jodi and Evan came early Wednesday and Terry and Evan went shooting while I went to a doctors appointment and Jodi stayed home and watched 6 kids. My doctors appointment was uneventful. He checked me and I am dilated a little and effaced about 50 percent. I was disappointed because I thought maybe I would be a little be further along. But oh well.





We hung out all day and tried watching the movie "Amazing Grace" until all the kids woke up from their naps. By the way that movie is really good. It is about the man who lead the movement in England to abolish slavery and it also tells the origins of that song.
After watching the movie we cooked up a ham dinner--well Terry cooked up a ham dinner. I made some potatoes. I told Terry if he wanted to have company over he would have to cook because I wasn't feeling up to it. Terry's brother Tom and his family came later that night and ate with us. (Side Note--In the November friend there is a story called Rock Soup and the family that is in the pictures is Tom's family. Their friend is an artist and he has used them as models a couple of times.)

We had a fun time with both families.

On Thursday morning I spent the morning getting the kids all bathed and ready and I had to make an apple pie for Thanksgiving dinner. When all that was done we loaded up and drove to Sugar City where we ate dinner with my Grandma and Grandpa Shirley, Aunt Linda, and Jodi and her family. The dinner was good because grandma is such a good cook. It wasn't very relaxing though because I spent the whole time trying to keep my kids from spilling jello and hitting the china with silverware and reaching across the table--almost spilling their water--and bothering the people they were sitting by. It is much easier when there are two parents to keep an eye on things. But we still had fun visiting and I have some pictures of what the kids did to entertain themselves.

Ainsley and Gracie, Jodi's daughter, were covering themselves with rugs and pretending to be babies.



Abby and Ellie found my favorite spot I had as a child. Grandma Shirley has a little
panel in her bedroom that folds down and I used to loved to pretend I owned a jewelry store and people had to come to the window and buy stuff from me.



And Sam walked around and picked on his cousin Sander who is so sweet and looked like he wondered why Sam kept pushing him around.



After dinner we drove home and all the kids fell asleep. They were so cranky and tired when we got home they all went to bed at 5:30--except Abby who stayed up late with mom and dad. We ended the night with a call to my parents in Oklahoma City. Suzette spent Thanksgiving with them so we all had a conference call and had a fun time visiting. It was almost like we were all together in the living room.

Anyway, we had a good holiday even though we didn't have a lot of family with us.

Sharing Time

I was just put in the primary presidency of our ward and did my first sharing time today. I think it made my blood pressure go up a little. Last week I sat and observed the primary and thought they were such good reverent kids, but today I thought they were a little loud and restless. But after talking to the primary president she said they acted about the same. It is amazing how your perspective changes once you have responsibility over something. Anyway, the sharing time went fine--but I was really keyed up when I got home from church. I kept running through my mind everything that had happened and thought about all my mistakes etc. It took me a while to wind down.

I am posting a picture of Sam today because he is wearing his first white shirt and tie, although I don't know if you can really see it under the sweater. I thought he looked pretty cute.

The other thing I wanted to write about was a book I just read called "Speak". It is a young adult novel and I thought it was very moving. It is about the after effects of a girl who gets raped at a party. I wouldn't have chosen to read this book because it is such a grim topic but Suzette insisted I read it. And while I was reading it I kept remembering an article in the Ensign a few months ago that a mom wrote about her daughter being raped on a date and how her daughter totally changed and they couldn't figure out what had happened for a while. Anyway, both stories are very moving and it made me feel how important it is to be in tune with our kids so we can recognize when something is happening in our kids lives. In the book the parents had no idea and just thought their daughter had a lot of attitude. Anyway, it is an easy read and very worth it--I thought.

Today before church the kids and I made a chain showing how many days until this next baby comes--only 26 now--and we wrote on each chain something that we are grateful for. The kids were really having a hard time thinking and most of what we wrote had to do with animals. But it was fun and it passed some of the time (we have church at 1 PM).

One last thing. I went to a Stake Auxillary training meeting on Thursday and as I was sitting there I noticed a girl who looked like Jenny Blackham. The more I watched her the more sure I was that it was her. So after the meeting I talked with her and she is living not too far away from where I live. She is married to a police officer and has 3 kids and teaches dance. The funny thing is she is in a ward where Spencer Smith is the bishop. He is my little brother Nathan's age. That would be weird, but I am sure you would get used to it. Anyway, it was good to see Jenny. I don't think I have seen her in about 10 years.

Kristi's Test

I am just testing this blog to see if I can make it work. Thanks Heather for putting it together. It looks great!!!

Here are pictures of my kids the week before Halloween. We went to a neighborhood party that is at the park across from our house. For our real Halloween we went to Sugar City and had dinner with my family and then went to the stake center for one of the wards (Suzette's ward) parties. I saw Bill and Heidi Dalling and their four kids--who are really cute. I haven't seen them in probably eight years, so it was good to talk with them. After that party we ran out to my grandma Shirley's house and had donuts, chocolate milk, popcorn, sugar cookies, and candy bars. She takes good care of us.

Testing

This is a test of the emergency broadcast system. This is only a test.