1st week photo dump

A month has already passed and here I am finally getting around Rylee's first week home! Life is definitely much busier! I came home tuesday morning and went straight to bed! But it wasn't long before we hopped back into the real world.  

Carter and Mollie both had soccer games and it was their last games so i felt like I should be there so we all loaded up and went. The kids were extra excited to show Rylee off and because their grandparents were there! 

That afternoon both grandparents showed up and this beautiful bouquet of flowers from Chad's work. I normally don't care much for flowers but when its a big beautiful display and it didn't come from my checking account I love it! And I really enjoyed looking at it all week.

 Anther surprise was these little pink roses bloomed just in time for us to come home from the hospital!

My parents stopped in and Dad & Adam held Rylee then had to get on the road to help Tony move to St. George! Mom stayed to help me for a few days.

 Then the lounging around and cuddle time began. We all snuck in as much time as we could holding Rylee. The kids have been very helpful and well behaved and we all love her so much!

 We did a LOT of front porch sittin' while the kids played in the yard and the adults chatted.

 I love this picture! Brielle makes this face and an "OHHHH!" sound whenever she gets near her.

 Saturday afternoon we had some more visitors, The Calls! The kids were excited to see their cousins and have a pool party.

 Chelsey made some more cute sandals for Rylee.

 For dinner we went out to Shanes favorite restaurant La Fountain!

 On Sunday dad stopped back by to pick up mom and take her home. He got to stay a little longer this time.

 I'm always so grateful that my mom comes and stays and helps with the kids. It ensures that we all stay happy and it was hard to let her go! But I knew I had to get back to real life sooner than later.

 I went to bed feeling a little ill and the next day had the full blown flu! Oh it was so awful and I begged Chad to stay home one more day. New moms shouldn't be allowed to get sick!!

 But I got lots more snuggle time in bed with Rylee and it was much needed.

 After I was well I felt the baby blues trying to sneak into my life and I knew it was time to get out! So we loaded up the kids, packed a lunch and grabbed a bag of bread to feed to the ducks at the park and went for a picnic. The sunshine did my soul good and only had a few days I was feeling down.

Here is Brielle giving some loves

 And Carter and Mollie are never far if I set her down for a little bit.

 I've loved having a summer baby and sitting outside enjoying the weather. Rylee seems to like it too and is happiest when she is outside. So this is how we sit....alot...and I love it.

 Hello bright eyes!

 My baby holding my baby! More loves from Bri. She's always quick to point out her eyes and nose. Cute kiddo.

 While I had the flu Chad was changing Rylee and we noticed her umbilical cord had fallen off at 6 days old! The next day we gave her her first bath. I had lots of helpers...

 Brielle was more interested in poking at my bum crack while I was bent over and I couldn't do anything about it! She is going to be my funny baby. She is constantly tickling and is quick to point out a bum crack or belly button that is showing.

 She wasn't a huge fan...So tiny!

Time has flown! But we are all enjoying our family of 6. But I am content to say that this could be the last baby. It has been a little hard since its summer time to not be able to camp, swim, bike, etc and I'm just really ready to be done with the baby stage as sweet as it is. We will see if Heavenly Father has different plans but Little Miss Rylee could be the last!

Rylee's story

Our baby girl finally arrived! I was sure she was never going to come, especially after walking around for a whole weekend dilated to a 5! So here's the wonderful birth story of Miss Rylee! 

At my last check up which was 8 days before my due date (friday) Dr. Lazernick stripped my membranes and was quite surprised that I was dilated to a 5! She was sure that I would be in labor by the weekend. She told me a few things to go home and do to get things started and I tried everything I could think of! But I wasn't having any contractions or signs she was coming soon. I didn't go to church because I was feeling bummed and too uncomfortable to sit through 3 hours of church. 

I crawled into bed late sunday night really upset but trying to think of things I could focus on throughout the week so I wouldn't be so depressed. Chad quickly fell asleep and I lay there in bed wide awake googling more things I could try to induce labor. At 11:58 I decided to get some sleep and shut off my phone and pulled up my covers. I felt a huge contraction just then and as soon as it stopped a felt my water break! It was 12:04AM. I was so shocked I wasn't quite sure what to do. I've never had this happen before! This birth was a totally new experience!

 I walked around for a while to make sure it was my water and that I didn't just have an accident. I woke up Chad and he didn't believe me but I had him call our neighbor who came over to sleep on our couch. I always thought that once your water broke then your contractions would follow very soon. But I felt fine and didn't have any contractions for quite a while. 

After getting checked in at 12:30 they did a test to see if my water broke. The test came back negative but when they checked me it was obvious it had broke. Not sure why it came back negative. They started my IV (which was awful by the way and blew the vein in my hand...why do nurses never listen to me when I ask for small needles or try to tell them its hard to get a vein on me!) By 1:30 I was all settled and I looked at the clock and guessed that we would have a baby by about 5 or 5:30. 

I waited and waited for the contractions to come....NOTHING! Around 2 or 3 my doctor asked if I wanted some pitocin to get things moving. I said YES PLEASE! I tend to get a little anxiety waiting for these little ones to get here and can't imagine a long labor! I think I had 2 contractions and then I asked for my epidural. It was the worst epidural ever and I hated the guy who administered it. He hit a nerve and I about jumped off the table. He then asked loudly, "Why did you feel that?!" Ummmm maybe you should be telling me that!!! He later seemed upset that I got an epidural when I hadn't had very many contractions....who cares buddy, you'll get your $1000 for the 10 minutes you spent torturing me! I've had 2 good ones and two bad ones so I guess he just needed to even up the score. It really didn't numb me that well either. I felt quite a bit of everything. 

About 5 I was getting uncomfortable. I had 2 big contractions where I literally felt the baby move inches downward. It was painful. The nurse checked and I was ready to have a baby! 3 or 4 big pushes and our baby Rylee arrived at 5:24 AM on Monday June 8th! She weighed 7 lbs 5 oz (my biggest baby yet!) and was 21 inches long. 

For some reason my kids have the worst APGAR scores at birth but pink up really quickly afterwards. I got to snuggle her on my chest for a second or two while Chad cut the cord and then they whisked her away to check her out. I was kinda bummed because I got to hold Brielle for a good 45 minutes before they took her from me but they were a little worried about baby Ry. 

Her feet were blue like this for 2 whole days and purplish for about a week...strange...

When I hold my sweet babies for the first time, it's the only time I remember feeling like my heart might burst of joy. There is nothing better than that feeling. 

Her lips were really swollen and Chad came running over to me to show me this picture of how big her lips were! He was a little worried she was going to have giant lips but they went back down. Her eyelashes were incredible too! Usually I dont see eyelashes for a few weeks but hers were long and thick!

 Chad was so tired that after the nurses took the baby he quickly passed out on the couch. The nurses asked if Chad wanted to help bathe the baby and he didn't respond. I had to yell at him from across the room a few times before he would wake up! But he was happy to get to do it.

We snuggled our baby in the quiet of the room. It was so peaceful and incredibly precious time that I never want to end. We tried to get a few hours of sleep at the hospital then chad went home around 9 to relieve our wonderful neighbor. 

 Carter and Mollie woke up to the exciting news that they had a new baby sister. They were so anxious to get to the hospital and see her. They brought us flowers and candy and a stuffed animal for Rylee.

 Brielle was more excited to see me than to see the baby. And was enjoying exploring around the room rather than checking out the baby. She did say "bebe!" and pointed at her but that was it.

 I tried to get some sleep that afternoon but it's never easy in a hospital. I was a little lonely since our room is usually buzzing with grandparents, parents, and siblings but also almost too tired to care. Since I've been able to plan my other births our family could schedule to be there but not this time since she came in the middle of the night! Chad was also home with the kids so their routines wouldn't get too messed up.  I was grateful for a visit from the Eash family later in the day. I stayed another night in the hospital and hardly got any sleep then! I was going on 48 hours without much sleep! Finally the next morning we got to take her home in this sweet little outfit!

 Chad and the kids came to pick me up and we all were so happy to be home. I went straight to bed!
Here we are as a new family of SIX!

 And here is the little peanut in her carseat! We just barely moved Brielle out of this car seat and she looks so tiny compared to seeing Brielle in it!!

 I am so blessed to be the mom of these 4 sweet kids. My recovery has been awesome and I have felt really great. My energy has returned for the most part and I feel so much better than I did in my last few weeks of pregnancy. I feel like our family is complete and I think this will be the end of Hymas babies unless we feel STRONGLY prompted to have another one. My feelings were completely different after Rylee arrived than Brielle and I feel content with our family of 6. Motherhood is such a blessing and I am forever grateful to my Heavenly Father for entrusting these littles to my care. Each one of them has taught me so much in life sometimes before they even arrived on earth. I hope I can be ENOUGH for each one of them. I pray for that daily. Stay tuned for bringing baby home!

Surprise Baby Shower

Some wonderful friends invited me to Denny's one night for a "girls night"....When I walked in and saw balloons and gifts I was quite surprised! We spent the night chatting, eating and opening gifts. 

 Here are a few of them...

Good friends has made this move bearable! I'm so grateful for the blessing of awesome friends in both Idaho & Utah that have taught me, made me better, and strengthened me! You are awesome!

Later this night there was the craziest lightning and thunder storm that I thought it would put me into labor for sure! It didn't happen that night, but the following night labor started!! "YAHOO!!!!

Mother's Day

The kids and Chad are always really good about making Mother's Day special for me. It started out with getting to sleep in and cinnamon rolls for breakfast! Then i was showered with cards and gifts. Very sweet.

Me and Mollie and Brielle all painted our nails before church that morning. A special gift because Mollie rarely wants hers painted anymore.

We got ready for church and snapped a few pictures. This is as good as is gets people...

And there is my 35 week belly! The reality of a new baby is really starting to get real! I got to do a little shopping for her last week and it really got me excited to have another girl!

And another special gift chad is working on for me for mothers day is a new light fixture and frame for my mirror. 

It's still not totaly complete but he's got a good start on it! And someone may have been excited about it and broken a light shade while opening up the box (me not him) and had to order a replacement! But I'm really loving it! Ill post another picture when it's complete and my bathroom is clean!

It means so much that I have a good husband that honors me and respects me and loves me so much and children who do the same and who are all around good kids. I'm sure blessed to be a mom and am often overwhelmed with the blessings (and challenges) it brings but I wouldn't trade it for anything!

The rest of April....

With all our trips to Idaho Carter and Mollie missed their first 2 games and so they were anxious to get to be able to play soccer. Mollie has actually done really well. I think she is the oldest on the team, and the tallest, and therefore the best! 

 Chad took on the challenge of coaching Carter's team and I think he has really enjoyed it. Carter of course loves it.

 Mollie also had a preschool field trip to the zoo. It was a perfect day and there weren't too many people there.

 Brielle got to tag along and she thought it was pretty great seeing all the animals and riding the carousel!

 One day we turned 20 lbs of strawberries into jam and I made all the kids help. Carter thought it was pretty great when he came across this beauty!

 We got to watch our nephew Jarrett play a baseball game in Tooele. They are moving in a few weeks to Arizona so we were happy to get to spend some time with them. Our kids have really grown to love the Dudschus family and we will miss them so much!

 And Mollie will especially miss Kaylie. She's mollies favorite cousin and babysitter!

And little Brielle is turning into quite the little character! She is rarely found without a baby or purse or shopping cart and she has just started to enjoy watching movies and cartoons a little bit. As long as she can sit in her favorite chair.

Chicka chicka boom boom day at preschool. One of Mollie's last days.

 And I really wanted to make sure the kids didn't miss out on swimming lessons this year with having a new baby and everything so we got them in in early May and of course the kids loved it. This picture shows off their personalities pretty good right now. Mr. Face puller and little miss poser.

They both did great in swimming. And I love that they aren't scared of the water like I was  (and still am). Hopefully they can get in one more session sometime this summer!