Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Introducing . . .

Basil Mary Barney
Born April 22, 2013 at 5:20 am
7 lbs 1 oz, 20.5 inches

First moments between Summer and Basil   

 Summer was the first to wake. She came bounding into the room to Rhett (having seen the midwife and her assistant-in-training first and being a little nervous), and then she saw Basil. Look at that excitement on her face. I love it.

 First moment between Claire and Basil
Claire came up next, a bit later. She pulled her hair out of her eyes and covered her mouth in excitement. She couldn't believe we had a new baby! All this talk and it finally came true! (She was the one who had always been the most interested in feeling Basil kick and roll around inside me. She would talk through my tummy to her and wait patiently for her to kick.)

First moments with Pyper and Basil 

 And Pyper woke up last. You can see the pure excitement in her face. The second picture was when she first touched Basil's head and was soooooo excited. "Ba ba! Ba ba!"


Claire loves holding Basil. She has held her multiple times since Basil was born.

A few pictures in the sun (from today--so two days old).

Here's one of Rhett and Basil. I love how it shows how tiny she is!

And finally, one of me and Basil. This was taken Monday night, with her first set of clothes on.

I'll save the long blog post of Basil's birth story for another day, but I wanted to get some pictures up before I headed to bed at 7:41pm.

Thanks, everyone, for your prayers, thoughts, and congratulations. We appreciate it all!

Friday, April 19, 2013

The day came and went . . .

And there is still no baby in our arms! I can't believe it! It was actually kind of exciting. You know that feeling you have when it's your birthday and you're walking through Walmart feeling all cool thinking, "Oh yeah, it's my birthday." I get that feeling about every once a year. But this feeling yesterday was like, "Oh yeah, it's my due date." This was the first time ever I could feel this way! It was pretty exciting.

As I was checking out at Costco, the lady at the register asked, "So when are you due?" "Today!" I cried in excitement. Really, it was thrilling to say it.

And I'm not disappointed that the little one is still inside me. It's like the suspense is building now. It could be any moment. Even next week! I'm not feeling uncomfortable or grouchy or anything like my previous ones, so I'm okay if we wait a little longer.

And every night before we go to bed, we start getting this itching feeling like it's getting closer. (Well, because pretty much it is getting closer.)

I've been singing this song all day thinking about tonight. THIS COULD BE THE NIGHT!!!

(This is probably copyrighted and illegal, so let's not tell Rhett I posted it.)

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

While Waiting . . .

I finished a project I started about three years ago. :) And I love it! It's our family tree! Each light green leaf is a woman's name and each dark green leaf is a man's name. Rhett and I are in the middle of the tree, and the girls' names are along the trunk. I know, I know, I should have used a ruler so I could write straight--it's killing me that some of it is a little crooked. But it's okay. I love it. According to this tree, it shows SIX generations (if you count our kids). And I love the frame! It was given to us with an original painting in it from some friends who moved and didn't want it any more. I was so excited about that!

We fingerpainted with chocolate pudding. Pyper didn't really get the idea. She just ate it in handfuls. Summer did some beautiful artwork . . . .

And Claire just said, "More pudding please."

And we are still trying to figure out our new camera. So all these pictures are taken from my phone. They aren't the best quality, but at least it's something!

The girls were also practicing their pull-ups with a broomstick on two chairs. Then Pyper had to do it too. 

Rhett's busy working and pampering me. He got highlighted in the local paper--a very nice article that I'll try to find a link to online. 

And me, well, I'm just waiting. Tomorrow will be a big day--whether we have her or not. I've never made it to my due date before! My midwife actually thinks I'll make it to my due date this time because I've done better with my nutrition this pregnancy. From what I've read and learned, if a pregnant mother is lacking in vitamins, minerals, water, anything, then she can go into labor early because the body is afraid it won't have enough nutrition to take care of the baby. So it wants to get the baby out. On all my previous pregnancies, I wasn't even taking prenatals! (Since I couldn't swallow pills.) But now that I can swallow pills, I've been taking some great supplements: catalyn, cataplex B12, trace minerals, vitamin D, and fish oil. I've also been drinking more water, and taking a protein drink before going to bed (which helps me sleep through the night comfortably!). 

I don't know if my change in nutrition is why we haven't had this baby yet, but I do think it has something to do with it. 

My body is not uncomfortable. I'm feeling pretty good, which I attribute to our NUCCA dr. I'm definitely feeling pregnant, but no aches and pains like previous pregnancies. The only thing that has been "uncomfortable" is my mental state! About two weeks ago, I started simplifying things so that when the baby came, I could just focus on her and the girls. I finished up projects, put my writing goals aside, and packed my craft stuff up. But now I am completely bored! So I got my writing out again and have been working on that here and there.

I know I still need to do a special post about Summer, and one about Claire too. Maybe that's what I'll do over the next few days--if I'm not in labor!

Friday, April 12, 2013

Good News!!!





















Our tomatoes have sprouted!


Haha. Bet you thought we had our baby, eh? Well, not yet. Soon, I'm thinking, but I'm not really in charge of this kind of thing.

We'll keep you posted!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

All From Today

These are all pictures taken today on my phone . . .

Pyper, after her bath, putting on Summer's clothes. She got Summer's underwear through one leg, and then got the pants leg almost half way up her arm.

Summer "resting in the sun." She was like this for almost ten minutes. For any of you who know Summer, you know it is rare for her to be holding still for longer than a few seconds. She is such a ball of energy, so it was fun to see her actually "relaxing."

Have I posted pictures of the girls being mermaids? I don't remember. They wrap up their bodies with their blankets, and then lay on the floor like they have tails. Well, today, Pyper wanted to be a mermaid. She brought me the blanket, I wrapped her up in it, then she plopped on the ground like this. The older two loved it.

I was cooking dinner, and when the timer beeped, Pyper took off running into the kitchen, she grabbed a hot pad, and then tried pulling on the oven door. She couldn't get it open--but still! Good thing I got there right after her!

While Claire, Pip, and I were finishing dinner, Summer jumped into the kitchen behind me dressed like this with her hands on her hips--and said, "Are you looking for this?!?" 
She was wearing a pink sweater over her dress earlier--I'm not sure where it ended up. But when she put it back on, she was looking for a pocket. There weren't any. Then she opened her sweater, showing me the insides, and said, "Look at all these pockets. I have a flashlight, and a screw driver, and some cucumbers in case someone gets hungry . . ." She kept listing off things that were in her imaginary pockets--a binky in case a baby cried, ice cream, a clock, etc. I think she got this idea from Backyardigans. And I think it's hilarious.

I love this picture. 

Her hair doesn't usually have much curl to it, but today, it naturally did this. I thought it was quite pretty.

 Of course, once Pippy saw Summer's dramatic entrance, and after she came across the same hat and glasses, she had to put them on too. 

I tried to get a few pictures of Claire doing some sign language. But sign language is hard to capture in a photo. It was a few weeks ago when she surprised me with a sign. I don't remember what it was, but I asked her what else she knew. She listed off a whole bunch! And signed them too! Airplane, potty, please, more, cat, book, etc. I was so surprised! I had no idea she knew them. I asked her where she learned sign language, and she said there's a book at her school that she and Teacher Paige look at. I was impressed . . . and excited that she was showing interest in something that she enjoyed.

I guess the good thing about "7 Days of Us" is that it actually gets me into the habit of posting more often than once or twice a month. We'll see how well I do after the new baby comes!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Claire's Day Out

Rhett is in DC this week for work, and since I enlisted some Beehives (12-13 year old girls in our ward) to come help out with the kiddos, I decided to take the girls on a date before the new baby comes. Today was Claire's day. She chose to get her nails painted. 

The salon we went to was great with Claire. I had called earlier to make the appointment, so they knew Claire was coming. They got her a drink of water, and they gave her a honey stick. 

The nail technician was so kind. She let Claire pick out five colors (Claire's idea). 

 Claire talked the whole time. She told the technician about red being her favorite color, that she went to school with teacher Paige and Pam, that she didn't know what the new baby's name was, and that sometimes she hits herself, says "oops" and then laughs, and that her birthday is in December when Santa comes while they are sleeping.

She was a little nervous when she put her hands in the drying machine thing. I wonder if it was a similar moment to Eep on The Croods when she gets shoes for the first time and yells, "Where are my feet?!?"

The finished product: (Note--the jewels on her middle finger and thumb. The technician put those on as a special treat. And as a special treat for mom, the technician didn't charge me anything!)

For the past few days, Claire and I had talked about "our special day" today. It was so fun to have some time for just the two of us. 

I'll post next about our Easter celebrations and about our April Fool's Day.