Snow Day

A few weeks ago school was canceled for the girls due to extreme cold (-34 F with windchill).  Here is what they did to stay busy.

Jordan organized a tea party.

Jordan let Kailyn use her weaving loom to weave a hot pad.

First Bath

Ava's umbilical cord fell off when she was 8 days old, so she got her first official bath.

First, we had to get pictures of her hair.

 Ava was not a fan of her first bath.

She was OK once she got all bundled up in her towel.

All clean.

 Look at this adorable hat my sister Jessica made and sent to me.  I love it! So cute. She also sent some adorable bows (I'll have to get pictures later).

Big brother Caden holding Ava.

Grandma and Grandpa Bassett

This last weekend Grandma and Grandpa Bassett were able to come for a quick visit.  We were so glad to have them come.  The visit was lots of fun but way too short.  We thought they were going to be able to stay a little longer when the interstate closed; unfortunately, the roads reopened later that day.  The kids were very disappointed to see them go.   The kids had school off Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Monday.  It was great having grandparents here for part of the time to help with cabin fever.  I think everyone was glad when school started up again on Tuesday.  We were all getting major cabin fever since it was too cold to go outside.

Ava looks SO tiny in her carseat.

 Our cutie.

Pics of Ava and her Siblings

We were able to get Shelly and Ava from the hospital the day after Ava was born.  The girls had school and some friends took the boys, and then the kids had gymnastics.  After gymnastics, we went to get Shelly and Ava (thus the pink leotards).  

Ava

Our Baby Girl Was Born!

Ava Lorrene

6 lbs 2 oz

19 inches long

(The following to document for Ava but you are welcome to read or just skip to the pictures.)

Our little girl decided to make a surprise visit on February 14--almost 3 weeks early.  I had been having more contractions over the weekend but nothing that would make me think she would be coming within the next couple of days.  We were totally taken by surprise.

I went to bed Sunday night but couldn't fall asleep because I started having contractions.  I laid there for about an hour and decided to get up and see if that made a difference.  I continued to have contractions.  I then started to freak out because of all of things I needed to get done.  One of the things I was worried about was the Valentine's Day party I was in charge of for Kailyn's class.  I hadn't made frosting for the cookies they were supposed to decorate, so I started on that (OK, I know this sounds crazy to be making frosting at 2 am, but really, it's not like I could sleep).  At this point Ken came downstairs.  He said, "I have 2 questions. 1. Are you in ..."  Before he could finish I said, "Ken, I think I am in labor."  (the second questions was going to be 'Are you crazy?  It's 2 in the morning.  What are you still doing up?).  We then started timing the contractions and getting some things done around the house (frantically cleaning, expecting that we would be calling someone in to watch our kids.  How embarrassing if they came to watch our kids in a semi-messy house).  The contractions continued and we decided to sit down.  After sitting on the couch for awhile they died down to 10-15 minutes apart and less intense.  We decided to go try and get some sleep.  As soon as I laid down, the contractions returned to only a couple of minutes apart.  We tried to figure out to do with the kids, and Ken tried to call some people but couldn't get a hold of anyone (it was 4 in the morning--weird that no one answers their phones at 4 am).  We decided I would go ahead to the hospital, and he would come as soon as he could.  (I was afraid of missing an epidural. My doctor had suggested I try getting it earlier to see if it helped since I have not had good luck in the past.)

I got to the hospital and checked in.  Then the aniethesiogolist came in. He just happened to be someone from church.  He started, "Hey, guys, how are you?  Uhh, where's Ken?"  After hearing the story, he immediately called his wife and told her to get over to our house and take over.  

The epidural started out perfect!  I got perfect relief, in the beginning.  All the nurses who checked in on me saw the contractions on the monitor and said, "You don't feel those?  And you can still move your legs? (It was light enough that I could still move my legs).  You must have the perfect epidural!"  Unfortunately, the contractions slowed, so they started me on pitocin.  As the contractions started up again, my epidural was not as effective against the contractions and eventually didn't seem to be working at all anymore.  A second anesthesiologist came in and gave me a large dose of the epidural medication, but it didn't make any changes AT ALL.  The pain made it my most challenging birth.  Not only did I get the pain from contractions, but I was getting the worst back pains and horrible pains shooting down my legs.  It was unbearable.  Then the OB physician discovered that Ava was facing the wrong way and told me to lay on my side.  She then said she would be right back to try and flip her.  Somehow in the next 10 minutes Ava completed her turn, and suddenly it was time to push.  When it came time to push, I honestly did not think I could do it.  I was SO exhausted (zero sleep the night before), and I was in so much pain that the thought of trying to push was too much.  Luckily, I had this amazing nurse come in.  I truly don't think I could have done it without her.  She helped me get ready to push, helped me focus and told me exactly what to do (which is good since it was hard to focus when I was in so much pain).  After 3 rounds of pushing (11 minutes total), Ava was born at 13:29.  When it was all over, the nurse peeled off the tape on my back and pulled out my epidural.  She noted that the epidural had fallen out almost all the way--perhaps from my constant shifting in bed or an accidental tug.  Anyway, it now makes sense why the epidural worked so splendidly in the beginning but not so well in the end, even with the extra large dose towards the end, which didn't do a thing.  

Ava came out with her cord wrapped once around her neck (she was a little purple but nothing serious).  She has a head of dark hair like all of our others (I'll have to get some pictures).

Chase Turns 2

A nice quiet family party for Chase's 2nd birthday.

I thought it would be nice to get a picture of all 4 kiddos.  Now I know why I don't have many pictures of all of them together.  (It didn't help that my good camera was out of commission.)

We either have faces being covered up....

someone (or ones) not looking at the camera...

 or silly faces.

I love how our kids get so excited...even when its not their birthday.

Chase loves his matchbox cars from Grandma and Grandpa Bassett.  They are the perfect size to carry around in his little hands.

Chase would rip off little pieces and would insist on handing them to Ken.

Chase's birthday treats, brownies with a train on top.  He loves trains.

I love this kid.  He makes me laugh out loud.

Here he is teasing Jordan.  He loves to get people to interact with him.

A little about our 2 year old.

About a month ago Chase's language really took off.  We went from him being very stubborn about talking (he refused to copy anything we said and really just didn't speak) to now stringing words together and copying everything we say.  One thing that he does that makes me laugh every time he does it, is when he refers to others by Chase.  We will say "Bye Chase" and instead of saying, "Bye Mom," he replies, "Bye Chase."

He likes things in their place.  He is great about putting things away.  We have to be careful, though, because sometimes he throws things away that he thinks are garbage.  If I am missing something, I always check the trash.

He loves to take baths.  He will try to get into the tub any time someone is in there.  He will even strip down and try to get me to give him a bath.  After bathtime, we have to change his diaper like 4 times an hour--he won't stop drinking the bath water (gross!!).

He has definitely hit the terrible twos and gets frustrated when I don't understand him or when I tell him he can't have something.  He seems to be horrible in the morning and after his nap.  It makes me crazy sometimes, especially in the morning when I am trying to get the girls out the door.

When he's frustrated, he will push his plate of food or his drink away, usually resulting in quite a mess.   Other than these moments he is a happy kid!  He loves to laugh and loves to play and interact with his brother, sisters, mom and dad.  He likes his dad more than any of our other kids did at this age (it probably helps that Ken is around more).  He loves to go up to Ken and step on his foot, throw a balloon at him, tap his leg, etc and then he gets this smirk on his face as he waits for Ken's reaction.

He has always been very patient with Caden.  Caden loves to be hands on, and he is often squeezing Chase's hands.  Caden often smoothers him with hugs and kisses; Chase takes it more than most would.  Chase is also willing to trade toys with Caden (as long as Caden asks first and doesn't just take it).  I also love how Chase copies everything Caden does, even when he has no idea what Caden is doing.

I truly love my little guy and am so glad he is part of our family.  A day doesn't go by that he doesn't make me laugh.

Jordan's Birthday Party

This year Jordan got to have a birthday party.  She choose a princess theme.  We invited 10 girls from school and church.  I was a bit nervous the night before thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?"  The party was a huge success and things couldn't have gone more smoothly.

The invitation...

The princesses (and superheros) in attendance. 

1. We started out by decorating foam crowns with stickers and jewels.

2.  Then we played pin the kiss on the frog (they had a pair of lips that they tried to get on the frog's lips to turn him into a prince.)

3. Next we hit a pinata.  Jordan has been talking about having a pinata since she saw one at the store 6 months ago, so this was a VERY necessary part of the celebration.

4.  Then we read the princess and the pea.  After the story we played a little game.  One girl went out of the room and we hid a ball under one of three pillows.  The girl then came back in and laid on the pillows and tried to guess which pillow the ball, "pea", was under.

5. Then we played a version of Simon says, only we played Princess says.

6. After all of the games it was time for lunch.  Jordan's choice...pizza and chocolate milk.

7. Cupcakes and ice cream.  We were originally going to have the girls decorate the cupcakes, but ran out of time.

8.  Finally, we opened presents.  Jordan loved all of her gifts and I was amazed at how generous some of her friends were.

Jordan absolutely loved her party!  The happiness that was on her face was so worth all of the effort.  I love how overly joyed she gets by things.  I wish I could bottle it up so I could enjoy it over and over again.  What a wonderful birthday.