Sunshine

Miss Nike Bell started preschool last week. This is her first day. Does she look excited? She was! She has around 5 or 6 teachers in her class, so there is always an adult to chit-chat with...her favorite thing.
I'm glad for all my "helpers." Mialee volunteered to hold the baby while I did a few chores and when I came back, this is what I found...
Mialee put on her swimsuit to mop the kitchen floor and Aiddie decided that meant we were going swimming. Thankfully there was a blow up pool in the shed!
And this may seem like just another piece of garbage in our "white-trash" yard (and honestly, a couple of weeks ago Jason heard a lecture right along those lines), but really it is a pool water heater. So when I pulled out that blow up pool today, Aiddie was treated to WARM WATER, Yeah! Another one of Jason's brilliant ideas!

A guessing game...

In a recent conversation with Nikell we were discussing pencils. She had a bendy pencil and we were talking about how normal pencils don't bend. She said they were like glass and like Daddy's wood. "Do you remember Daddy's wood? When you throw it at fences...it breaks. When you throw it at cars....it breaks. When you throw it at doors...it breaks. When you throw it at carseats...it doesn't break." Any ideas on what this "wood" could be? And were they really throwing it at fences and cars and doors and carseats?

Kiella (Key Ella) Jade McKellar

Falling in love with this face...

It amazes me how much your heart can be pulled right out of your chest at the sight of your newborn baby. As the days progress I find myself loving this baby more and more. And I find gratitude overwhelming me as my older kids instantly love and yearn to help keep this baby content. I find myself indescribably blessed to be the mother of 5 beautiful, well-mannered, kind, and generous girls that I know will grow to be not only my daughters, but my friends. I find myself in awe of a husband who reaches out to do little sensitive things to help ease my burden and whose face lights up in love as he interacts with his girls. I find peace in knowing that God can, and will, help me be more than I am. That he will strengthen me in my weaknesses and allow me success in my failures. I excite in the journey of a little-itty house full of girls with a Daddy to provide and protect us, hoping that we will learn to be better together...

What once was four...

Wow! This has been an interesting pregnancy. Jason and I both had the impression that there was "something different" about this baby. Early on I was considering a Midwife or birthing center. But as I discussed it with Jason and some friends I remembered how my baby's heart-rates drop in the birth canal. I realized that in the event that my baby ever got stuck, a midwife would not be as well equipped as a doctor to get her out. This could be the difference between life and death. We also worried about making it to the hospital in time and so made a point to go a little earlier than my usual 20 minute window. In fact, Jason was the one who made the call as to when to go this time...

Nikell had a bad dream this morning around 3:30 and upon her entering my room, I found myself stuck in bed with a contraction. I put her back to bed and then slept on and off for another hour or so. By 4:30 or 5:00 I figured I wasn't going to be able to sleep anymore and so ventured out of bed. My contractions were very low and very much in my back...which worried me that this baby was going to be face up. But there was little I could do about it. I took a bath, hung swimming suits up to dry, and around 7:00 went in to wake up Jason. He ran the Provo Marathon yesterday (sort of) and came home to help my brother dig out a clump of 5 or 6 trees and then was the designated swimmer with the kids at our local pool. So I asked him if he got a good nights sleep because it was now officially over...it was baby time!

Jason's brother Travis blessed his baby today at 9:30 am. Grandma Nancy had planned a sleep over with our 4 girls so we called her and asked her to come get them a little earlier (before the blessing).

My contractions were anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes apart, but intensely in my back and lower abdomen. We hung out until around 10:15. It was at about this point that I started really reaching for Jason as the contractions hit. He said, "We usually have about 45 minutes from when you start calling my name. Let's go." We made it to the hospital 15 minutes later and met with very nice nurses. They readily accepted my denial of an IV and even a hep-block. They allowed Jason to gently hold the heart monitor on my belly. They were very nice. I was dilated to a 7 and my doctor was unavailable. Horsley was on call. The next half-hour found no comfort during contractions, but in between was fine. When she started descending into my hips, I suddenly recalled that this was my least favorite part of the whole ordeal. I silently prayed for help and mentally urged that baby to get out. Horsley reached in to check me and was surprised to be met with a face. She was not only sunny-side-up, but her head was tilted back so that she was literally trying to descend face-first. The problem with this is that pushing tilts the head back and the baby gets stuck. The problem with not pushing was that her heart-rate dropped down to the 50's for over 8 minutes. He ordered a C-Section, but the Surgeon was not at the hospital. Time was running out. It was about at this point that he declared that I was going to hate him forever. All I could think about was the pain. Everyone was yelling for me to PUSH. So I pushed...hard. But she wouldn't come. Then that good 'ole doctor got out the forceps and went in and pulled her out.

I remember Jason hugging me as I cried and pushed and cried. It was strangely comforting amongst the chaos and pain and yelling. I remember the doctor talking about how it's not often that his heart rate goes up like it did. He talked about having to do stuff that he'd only read about in text-books 10 years ago, whatever that was.

Our baby girl was officially yanked into this world at 11:41 am weighing 6 lbs 14 oz and being 19.5 inches long. She is fairly bruised and wasn't able to open her eyes until 7:oo pm due to the swelling, but is doing well. My biggest complaint is the condition of my tailbone...but I am doing well too!

Now on to a new adventure with Five Princesses...

I must be more introverted than I thought...

I have never minded being alone. In fact, a night alone, curled up in my rocking chair with a blanket and a good book, is one of my favorite past times. And I'm totally okay with doing "my own thing." Being part of the crowd has it's moments, but I'm not one of those people who just can't resist a party. And there are times (get ready for this big dark secret...) when I find socializing down-right annoying. Not too often...well, okay sometimes it is quite often, but I try and keep a healthy balance....

ANYWAY...over the past week as my due date is approaching, I have been getting a few phone messages (notice I say messages, not calls, because I tend to not answer the phone...or lose it...) that sound something like this, "Hello? Are you there? Does this mean you are having a baby? Did you already have a baby?"

Hmmmm....guess it's time for a little update. Nope. I am not and have not had a baby...yet. There you go.

Ha ha. I am so funny. My due date is on Tuesday and believe it or not, I have been praying to NOT have this baby yet. The kids got out of school last week and it takes them a good week to adjust to being home all day. So I have been thankful for this past week. It has also given me a little time to get my summer curriculum together so that they don't turn into a bunch of dumb-bells while we are busy playing and traveling and running and whatever else. I have also had the meanest cough I have ever encountered. So every day that I can (hopefully) get closer to getting over this bug is another day that I can (hopefully) avoid passing it on to my little newborn baby. So, no, I'm not really progressing...and I am TOTALLY okay with it. Besides, I am fairly confident that she'll come when she's good and done.