Christmas Photo

Merry Christmas everyone!

We love you!

Layla update

Can you believe I'm actually blogging? Facebook has sucked me in so I have to apologize for being SUCH a SLACKER at blogging. I promise I will be more productive on the matter.....

Well, Layla is now over a year old. What a sweet girl we have. She loves to climb. Loves to feed you her food. She loves food. Loves to laugh at her brothers and they sure love to make her laugh. She is a bit of a whiner and knows that they will tend to her and give her attention if she keeps doing it. She loves to scrunch up her nose and make an irritated face, til you have to laugh at her then she ends up laughing too. She is a cuddler (which Matt and I just love) and she loves her daddy soooooo much. She says 3 words: "Daddddeeeeeeyaaaaaa," "Momma" and "I la la" (I love you). She loves my jewelry, lipsticks and shoes. She doesn't take the binky anymore but still loves her bottle. Bottle only at naptime and sleep at night. She takes two 2-3 hour naps a day and goes to bed around 9p-7a. I love this girl so much because she is so incredibly loveable. She is tall and skinny. 99% for height and 50% for weight. Daddy loves to do her hair in like 6 different ponytails around her head.....mom would prefer just one! :)

We love you Layla Belle!

Layla at 21 weeks

Alec and Layla with Santa

Layla and mommy

My dear dad and Layla

Sorry about the following images being so small. I took them from my phone. Well little Layla is quite a sweetheart. We can tell already that she is shy, calm, quiet, and gentle NOT like my boys, which is so refreshing. heehee. She is very angelic, dainty, small and has tiny feet and hands. She is definitely a GIRL. She whines wayyyyyy more than Alec did and Matt says even way more than Bryce or Kaden when they were infants.....even more proves she's a girl.

She is alomst 15 lbs.

Almost 21 weels.

Long and lush dark brown hair.

All smiles.

Belly laughs when tickled.

Sleeps at nightime no problem.

I can hold Layla tight and lay down with her and she will just suck on her binky and fall asleep so easily.

WHAT A GOOD BABY.

Still exclusively breast feeding and it is going great. I am SO glad I stuck with it.

This baby is the girly vibe we SO needed in our home, besides me.

WE LOVE LAYLA!

Layla with auntie Nikki

Layla in my LV.

Date night with the Bodell's.

We had a really fun double date night with Sterling and Katie Bodell last night. Their kids were watched by our babysitter while she also watched our kids. Poor Janelle had to watch 6 kids! We took Layla. She did good.....only cried when her picture was taken....

Sterling and Katie. Love them. Such fun friends. We laughed SOOOOO much!


WHY can't Matt just make a straight face?
Sterling holding baby Layla. She is just looking up at him like, "Who's this guy?"

And Matt again, making an ever so handsome face again.....

Little Miss LuLu

Layla is the most joyous little girl ever. She smiles constantly and the boys are having an absolute blast with her. Alec doesn't quite understand that she is still an infant and he wants to play with her all.the.time and thinks she can wrestle with him. He is quickly learning also that she is not a doll and she can't be roughhoused with. Kaden loves this girl so much and we all think she looks like him. That is good for him because he has had a hard time being the "middle" child so having a little sister is all this kid needed to feel like he has a special buddy, the way Bryce and Alec are towards each other. I have never seen Layla laugh so hard except when Kaden does these silly sounds with his mouth. She just busts up in her little 3 1/2 month old way.

Bryce is loving Layla as well and loves to hold her and be so sweet and gentle. He is almost 11 so he is learning that girls are precious and special and he really just adores this little lady in our lives.


Now on to Matt.....I have never seen him this way and I love LOVE L O V E it. He is absolutely smitten with her and it is such a sweet sight to see. He talks with her all the time. She loves to fall asleep on his chest. He loves to hold her and she loves gazing up at him. Such a beautiful bond they have already. I love it so much. His goal is to have the kind of relationship with her that I have with my father; best friends.


I am not ever getting enough sleep and my house is never quite as tidy as I'd like it and I'd love to lose 15 lbs but ya know what.....I am so incredibly blessed and I have 4 beautiful children, a wonderful, supportive husband, a great set of parents, both in laws and my own and just a great family.


Layla weighs 13.7 lbs and has two little rolls on each thigh. It's adorable. I am still exclusively breast feeding and it has gotten a LOT easier. I think we have gotten a handle on the thrush thing so that is making it more enjoyable. So many times I wanted to just give up and go for the formula bottle thing but I kept on keeping on and I am SO glad I did. Layla has never been colicky, sleeps so great and is always all smiles. She really only cries when she is hungry and slightly wimpers when she needs to be changed.
She has this amazing head of hair. Her hair is sooo beautiful and has a little bit of red in it, just like mine and Matt's natural color. Some people like the looks of bows and clips in their baby girls' hair, we HAVE to use them in Layla's to keep the hair out of her eyes.

Some fun things about Layla.

-She loves to blow bubbles with her spit and makes cute razzy sounds.

-Loves her little singing glow-turtle thing that G'ma got her. She has full on conversations by cooing to it. It is motion censored so when she makes the slightest movement with her hands or head, it talks to her. So funny.

-She loves to be changed. She smiles and smiles when she gets a clean diaper. It's like she KNOWS things are alright when she is clean.

-She has done a few belly laughs to Kaden's funny voices.

-The boys fight over sitting next to her in the car and she just stares and smiles. so cute.

-She loves her swing.

-She loves to say "ahhhgoooo"

-Loves to nurse to sleep at night

-She loves to watch her fishy mobile.

-She has these beautiful dark features like Matt and Kaden.

-She self sooths by sucking on her fingers and tries so hard to get her little thumb in her mouth but she hasn't quite gotten the hang of it. We think she will be a thumb sucker.

-She is SUPER DUPER cuddly.

Christmas cards!

You can get 50 free Holiday cards from Shutterfly if you fill out a little form on the website. Pretty sweet deal! These cards will be nice and just in time for Christmas!

Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly http://bit.ly/sfly2010
Check out some of their stuff!photo Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationeryholiday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

I didn't get a chance to send out Christmas cards last year cause I was soooo sick from the new pregnancy and just didn't have the energy but I am totally going to send these babies out this year!

the Labor novel.

These pics should be in reverse order....but I'm too tired to care to fix it.....sorry.

Layla was born last Monday at 2:23a. She weighed in at 6 lbs and 14 oz. She was 21" long. So she is tall and skinny. heehee.
Words cannot describe the love and completeness our family has for this baby girl. I can't even describe how open and ful my heart is everytime I look into her dark blue eyes and kiss her beautiful face. I love this girl so much!
This is how the day went:
-3pm on Sunday, 8/8/10, the hospital called and told me I was ready to come in to be induced. Matt and I had all our bags packed (even the kids') and we dropped them off our friends' house and then we drove to the hospital all giddy and excited.
-4:30pm, the IV was started and yea, that nurse was not very "loving". LOTS of pain, lots of blood, just for an IV. Ugh.
-5:00p, the penecillin for my Group B Strep was administered in the IV. OK, let me just tell you how PAINFUL straight up pen is in the arm. Nurse was supposed to flush it or give it with lidocaine. Yea ummm, SHE DIDN'T. It felt like a hot fire ball was entering my arm at rapid speed and shooting into every muscle fiber and exploding into a bigger fireball. I honestly do not know how to better explain the feeling. I cried out LOUD that 2 other nurses came in and quickly flushed it and gave lidocaine to numb the pain....muccccchhhhh better after that.
-7:00p, the penicillin bag was empty to they started the pitocin. Contractions started soon after that.....and they were fine for about 2 hours. I tried to see how long I could go without the epidural but after those 2 hours, I wimped out and asked for it.
-9:00p, the anesthesiologist came in and did the epid. It was much more painful than I remember with having it done for Alec's birth.
-9:45p, epidural is fully working.....on my right side only! I was sooooooo scared I was going to feel all the labor and birth on my left side BUT they simply tilted my body a little and voila, I was numb on the left side.
11:00p, Doc broke my water.
-----Labored comfortably numb til around 1:40a----------
1:40a, they checked me and I was dilated to a 7 and 100% effaced. Matt had gone to the store down the road to get some food. I called him and told him to come back cause I was at a 7 and this baby could come soon. 10 min later, as I felt a lot of pressure, nurse checked me and I was at a 10 and ready to push. Matt was parking the car but I called him and was like, "get your booty over to the room NOW, I gotta push!"
2:00a, with Matt by my side and my mom on the other, I pushed 13 times and out my little darling angel came at 2:23a on a magical day, 8/9/10!

Update #1

I am dilated to a 2-3, 50% effaced and got the good ol membrane strip yesterday. Lost most of the plug. I have contractions but they are not consistant and they don't hurt as bad as what is needed to stay at the hospital. So I am waiting keeping busy cleaning, cooking, walking, trying to get every last touch ready for the big arrival.

Today's hospital visit.

I thought my water broke today....well actually, I've had a feeling it has been slowly breaking the past few days. So after I got up out of bed and felt some fluid again this morning, I decided it was time to call the doctor just to make sure. She told me to go into the OB ward at the hospital and I did. Everything was fine. The culture sample of the fluid showed up negative for amniotic fluid, which is good. I didn't want Layla coming too early. I am dilated to a 2-3 and things are progressing wonderfully.
I am having this baby between now and Sunday 8/8 and I am sooooo excited to meet her. I can't wait to love on her, cuddle her, look at all her body features, her face, her lips, eyes, tiny ears and toes. I can't wait to kiss her lips.
Layla, I can't wait to be your mommy.

38 days!

I always have to pee

I always am tired

I always am a little irritable

Been crying a lot (hormones)

Feel like no one understands

I have cankles (edema)

Face is round and pudgy

Weird freckles I never had (pregnancy mask)

Wedding ring won't fit

Feet are always on fire

Oh, did I mention it's 110 degrees these days?

BUT

I get to hold my little angel before, on or just after 38 days!!!!!

Baby girl

My inspiration for Layla's room. I LOVE these things.

How it is right now

My life right now:

Busy
Tired
Hot
Swollen body
Cheery
Makin money with weddings
Feeling blessed
Starting planning dinner meals for home on a calendar for every night
Ligaments hurt a little all the time
Frequent charlie horses
Ready to meet Layla and kiss her and hold her
But not all that ready with her room

I really just wanna go back here for just one more day....

D.O.N.E!

Yup! I am DONE with school and never going back! Ok maybe when the kids are like in college, I'll do my masters but not til then. I feel so relieved. It's soooo nice to know that I will never have another paper to write, book to dissect, library to go to to do research, last minute homework due. Ahhhh, GONE are the days of being soooo tired and ready to go to bed after putting the boys to bed just to realize I have a paper to write by midnight that night. NOw I can 100% focus on being the best mother and wife I can be.

Hey pukes!

Get lost! You are no longer welcome anywhere near me. You are no longer allowed to make me feel like absolute CRUD for the rest of the day when you decide to rear your ugly little head in the morning. I hate you.
I'm 23 weeks prego today and really truly are very sick of you.
-Sarah

Easters!

We are having a GIRL!

I have gotten 3 different doc's confirmations. We are stoked to have a girl in the house. I cannot wait to hold my little angel in my arms and look in her eyes. I cannot believe how blessed we are! It is a miracle to create a baby and we feel soooooo blessed Heavenly Father feels we are worthy enough of parents for one of his beautiful daughters.

Yay!!!!!!!

Sex and Paradise (get your minds out of the gutter)

We are excited to know the baby's sex in 10 days and we CANNOT wait to see if our predictions are correct.

What do YOU think?

Boy

or

Girl?

Still puking every day. Today I even did it at a light, in a cup, on the way to costco. Sick. I was so embarrassed cause a few peeps saw me. Ugh. When will it go away?

Oh and we are going to HAWAII in May as a family trip with us 5 and my dad and brother. I am SOOO excited. We are staying in Waikiki at an amazing resort. Cannot.flippin.wait.

I wanna lay in the sun with the ocean breeze, palm trees swaying, virgin pina colada in hand, hearing my kids laughing with all my main men (dad, husband, brother). Paradise!

Don't read if you can't stand a whiner!

I am sooooo sick!!!!!! i have a cold flu now. ICK! So I am in bed, IV in my right hand, pump in my stomach pumping me full of zofran, and coughing, hacking, having itchy eyes and throat and mouth and ear infections a-brewing. I am miserable and I now know what death feels like. Poor Alec is just watching tv all day long and building lego's. He does go play at friends houses who are amazing to take him for a couple hours every few days so I can get some rest. I am in bed hungrier than ever from the zofran but unable to eat a lot because of this flu.
I need a nurse. I need relief. I wanna be in a drug induced coma til I am all better. It would be great! I wouldn't know the difference.
I now know what depression feels like. I may need to go on some meds. I'm serious. I am depressed.
Wah wah wah wah wah!

Singing praises!

Today was the first day in a LONG LONG time that I didn't throw up! Yes!!!!!

Rants and stuff

Well the days are feeling very long and I am a little depressed, I will say. We are down to one car now. Have been for about a month. We wil be getting quite a substantial tax return so we will buy a car for Matt then I CAN HAVE MY FREEDOM BACK as I get my car back! Matt gets rides when he can but the past couple weeks he's been approved for overtime which not everyone on his team is able to do so he has been working loooong days thus needs the car. My friend Agnes has called me when she goes out so I can join her, during the day. I have never expereinced this bad of cabin fever EVER. It sucks. I know I have it good though and I shouldn't complain. I could be this nauseas and pukey living in Haiti right now as a local. I'm sure there's thousands of sick and pregnant women there who are suffering in intense ways. I need to just get over myself and my sickness and be happy!!!!!
We are anxious to know if the baby is a girl or boy. Of course I say it's a boy cause that's all I know but secretly, and very recently I came to this conclusion that I really do think it's a girl. I just have a feeling. We will name her Layla Belle Painter and she will be S-P-O-I-L-E-D and if I find a cute, semi expensive outfit, doggonit, I will BUY it for her!
Well, that is it for now. I AM blessed and everytime I pray, I get a sense of relief and joy knowing that my little baby is healthy and snug and cozy growing in my belly and soon I will be able to kiss its little lips. But not too soon...I've still got 28 weeks left!

This baby better appreciate!

I hate being preggo. I love my baby but my body is just not agreeing with this pregnancy....again! BUT my preg with Alec was WAY worse so I am feeling blessed it isn't THAT bad. the zofran is not working al the time. Probably 30% of the time. I am craving certain foods. I am sure it's my body's way of telling me to eat healthier being that all these foods are healthy. Here is what I am craving.



Hard goat cheese

Greek kalamata olives.APPLE JUICE
Cheesy chicken enchilada's with no red sauce. Preferably the ones from Courtney Faerber's Mexican themed rehearsal dinner (yes, I do remember them.)A bed of really organic local mixed greens with mini heirlooms and shaved parmesan. Olive oil and lemon as a dressing.


I know I'm weird.