Sundays

Last Sunday:

 My dirndl girls in vintage dresses all ready for church

(vintage meaning my sisters and I wore them when we were little)

 with pretty braided hair

And from today:

napping with my babies

FHE Goals

We finally got around to making these this week:

 **since Bentley is getting baptized this summer he and Joseph are planning to read ahead in the Book of Mormon after family scripture time so he can finish it before his big day.

 **Cares is most proud of that pointing picture and thinks it's so funny. I am truly eager for anything that will get her to just obey instead of having a hundred excuses and questions and reasons why she can't do what I need her to.

**I am most excited about eliminating the binky. I told Livs she could have her 3 year old birthday first but then "bye bye binky"—the wise words of Elmo...

Luke will mostly aim for sleeping through the night and all else will just be an added bonus!

New

New around here:

The kids' scripture bags made by Nanny

 

 The guest/girls' bathroom 

 

 (used to look like this)

A Pinterest find to add some order and color to the kitchen

1 Month

The tiny is now one month old and looking like it too. His little thighs are starting to develop soft, full folds and his sweet face is rounding out. He also has small tufts of hair on the back of his head that get all fuzzy after laying on his back—all of it makes him such a snuggly little man. Oh, he is at such a delicious stage!

Luke is a sweetheart baby and usually quite content. He is a champion napper sleeping for 90 minutes to 2 hours almost every time he naps. The only things that cause him much grief are gas in his belly and going poo—both of which are quite lively and explosive when they happen (and delight the rest of the kids to no end). We have found that pressure on Luke's tummy when he is squirmy and uncomfortable gives him a lot of relief. This has also turned him into a rock star belly sleeper (I do try to keep swaddled back sleeping in the mix too but he doesn't seem to sleep as long that way...)

We love our newborn babe. And even though the hubby and I are running on very little sleep, we adore our Luke.

2011 In Review

Sometimes it's just fun to remember the past year—even if it's well past New Year's...

January: Sickest I've ever been (awesome way to start out the year...)

February: Livs turned 2 and I worked on a felt quiet book 

 

March: Phoenix trip and my birthday

April: Easter in St George—a fun tradition for our family

May: Found out I was pregnant just before Beans and Cares turned 5 and 7

June: Sick sick sick (kept thinking "why did I want to be pregnant?") and new car!

 

July: Lake Powell and girl's camp

August: Found out babe #4 was a BOY on Joseph's birthday

September: Sent my sweet Caroline to Kindergarten and potty trained Livs

October: Soaked up fall and cooler days and worked on nesting/organization projects

November: Moved the girls into the same room and prepped for Christmas

December: Anticipated Luke's arrival and welcomed him here on 12/21. 

Best Christmas present ever (and reminded me why pregnancy is sooo worth it!)

Life of Late

—Since returning to school after Christmas, Bentley and Caroline have become walkers on the way home each day. Hurray! There is a new street that just went in which directly connects the school to our neighborhood. Perfect timing on that—I was not wanting to wait in the carpool line with an unpredictable newborn and wiggly toddler.

Over the break Bob and Brooke joined the kids on a "test" walk to and from the school. And on their first official day walking home some exploring in the rocky hills was in order:

—Bentley is our little basketball man playing in Jr. Jazz this winter. He is still figuring out the logistics of playing on the court but he sure works hard and comes home very sweaty after his games :)

—Caroline is in love with her baby brother and holds him at least once every day. Poor girl has red, dry hands from all the washing so she can hold and touch and snuggle with Luke.

—Olivia is as darling as ever but her moods are sure shifty. She wants to be so independent and cries over silly things like me putting a sock on when she was wanting to do it herself (we end up taking the sock off and starting all over of course). Then often times she can be super attached to me and likes me to baby her and hold her a lot and let her sit on my lap. I never know which Livs to expect but I am trying to be loving and patient with her. She did just have her littlest princess status interrupted with Luke's arrival so I can understand how she must feel.

—I have watched so many (probably too many) movies and shows lately (breastfeeding time is always great TV time!) I have recorded about a hundred Friends episodes and watch those when I feed Luke in the middle of the night. Love them. Some of the lines are so classic and things Joseph and I say all the time—yes, I have already seen every episode but they are fun to revisit. Joseph and I also redboxed Moneyball  the other night and it was so slow that I could not stay awake to see it through. I adore Brad Pitt like no other actor but I think I needed some action to keep my eyes open.

—We are so lucky and have continued to be spoiled! My mom came over every day last week to do all carpooling, cooking, cleaning-up and errand running. She totally saved us and allowed me more time to rest and nap and finally feel all healed up. I am not looking forward to grocery runs and Costco outings with the new babe so I am very grateful my mom could do all that for me and postpone my need to return to "real life" just yet! Thank you Mom—we loved all the help you gave us and having you here with us!

3 Weeks

The babe is 3 weeks old today. We are still in the sea of seemingly endless feedings and diaper changes, day and night. But babies do seem to adjust to longer sleep stretches at night right around 4 weeks old so I think we are getting close to feeling more rested and more normal around here (I hope!)

Luke had a notable week starting with standing on my mom's lap and suddenly giving a little jump up and off her legs. What a funny (and strong) little baby! He may be walking before we know it. He also saw his doctor on Monday for a circumcision—long story about the hospital but basically the peds doc who first saw him there didn't do it so our family's pediatrician did. Poor Luke—from what I saw of it, which wasn't much because I chose to just calm my babe and keep my eyes off of the procedure, it looked pretty painful. But my tiny guy has been such a sweetheart in the days since. Only diaper changes really upset him and by today he is mostly fine with those again.

Some stats to record: at Luke's 2 week well visit he weighed 8 lbs 9 oz. Five days later, at his circumcision, he weighed 9 lbs 1 oz—love that he gained half a pound in less than a week. At 2 weeks he also measured in at 21.1 inches so he's grown a bit taller in the past few weeks too. We love our cuddly baby and try to soak up lots of snuggle time with his mushy little body.

 1 week old

 2 weeks old

3 weeks old

Luke's Birth

With our brand new baby, Luke Fielding LeBaron

December 21st, 10:30 pm (2 hours old)

**It's taken me almost 2 weeks to gather up my thoughts (and the time) to write this entry. Nothing fancy or dramatic about Luke's birthday but I want to remember it forever all the same. The births of all my babies have been smooth and swift and rather amazing to me—I know I am a lucky mama.

My 4 darlings, December 22nd, 2011

Wednesday December 21st started out calm enough—the kids were on their first day of holiday break and we enjoyed a lazy morning hanging out in our PJs. Once it was time to clean up breakfast and get everyone dressed for the day, the contractions began to hit pretty regularly. But then again, they had been doing that for about 10 days whenever I was active so I didn't think too much about it. Until they just kept coming, but still weren't quite close enough to signal impending labor. So I kept moving—I wanted to have a baby before the holiday weekend!

After talking to Joseph (and making him come home from work around noon) and wondering and worrying I finally called my OB (as he had told me to do at my appointment 2 days earlier if I thought things may be happening). He said to head on over to the hospital and reassured me that if my contractions were only 10 minutes apart they would still admit me.

From there on out everything happened so smoothly. My parents met us at the hospital right around 2:30 pm and gathered up our kids and their overnight bags. Then Joseph and I walked into the L&D wing and within 15 minutes we knew we were having a baby that day. It was so exciting—I was so ready to have baby Luke (I truly need to gear myself up mentally when I arrive at the hospital. Did you know birthing children is actually really hard work and quite painful—for like days and days after too? Hence--mental prep needed.) The nurses met us as we walked in as they were ready and waiting for us—my dr. had called and told them to be expecting us. When they hooked me up to the monitors my contractions were close enough, even if not exactly regular, and I was dilated to a 5 so everything pointed to being ready to deliver. By 3:30 I had my epidural in, Dr. Watts broke my water shortly thereafter, and then the contractions really kicked in. I could definitely feel a lot of tightening and most certainly the pressure building with each one but thank goodness for that epidural.

After laying on my left side for a while Luke quickly came down right into birthing position. This was round 7 pm and by then I was completely dilated and feeling really ready to push BUT my doctor had to be called in and was about 30 mins away AND Luke was in brow presentation meaning that his forehead was wanting to come out first instead of the tip top of his head. Good thing the nurses assured me that since he was my 4th baby they'd have plenty of room to shift him around before birth and he'd come out perfectly (lucky me?)

And so, when Dr. Watts arrived right around 8, he checked me, jumped into some scrubs, rearranged Luke somehow, and we had a new baby in exactly 3 pushes (weighing in at 8 lbs and 8 ounces and measuring 20.5 inches in length) Before I knew it Luke was resting on my chest all fresh and new and perfect. It was certainly my smoothest and quickest labor—and has subsequently been a fairly quick recovery so that has been especially nice when I have 3 other kiddos to look after. I am actually dying to get back on my bike for a good long ride—seems to prove that things are feeling back to normal in my lady parts...

 

Some of Luke's hospital visitors:

 Grandma Bobbi 

Aunt Cecily 

(who rescued my hospital bag from my house for me before coming to see us—classic that we brought everything else with us like cameras and computers and even Joseph's early Christmas gift—the iPad— but forgot my clothes and essentials...oops!) 

Grandpa Sherm—(fighting a cold)

 Aunt Luci

Nanny, Grandpa Neil, Aunt Mary, Aunt Maggie and Uncle Seth also came to see us but I didn't have my camera when they came. If anyone has pics, send them my way!

And of course Luke's most adoring fans:

loving big brother

smitten big sis

curious (but tender) big sis

Luke at exactly 1 day old

I feel totally blessed and eternally grateful for Luke's healthy and seamless arrival. I do have an amazing OB who is a very skilled doctor and really good guy who has now delivered 3 of my 4 children. He is also my parents' next door neighbor and in the bishopric in their ward. I also love having babies at St. Marks because my dad has worked there for years and years now and everyone seems to know him. Every anesthesiologist knows all about my family and siblings after working in the operating room with my dad. I think I may get really well taken care of because of my dad but I will take it! And I just love the nurses in the maternity wing—they are the best and make my life so easy while I am there.

 

All ready to come home to the chaos that life is!

Welcome to the world and to our family baby Luke. 

We are so happy you are here and are ours forever.