Happy Birth-Day

We are so excited to have our newest addition to our family...Bennett Nathan. He was born Monday, February 20th at 8:26 pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs 10 ounces and is 20 inches long. He is melting our hearts and we couldn't be happier! The girls are SO happy to have him home to hold and love on. He is our buddy. He was born on Presidents Day, making him our third baby born on a holiday. Whohoo!
I posted a bunch of pictures that are probably out of order but I wanted to be able to remember this special time. Here is our story...for those of you who don't have a few hours to read it, just skip and look at the pictures. I mostly just need to journal down the happenings so I don't forget myself. :)
On Wednesday and Thursday before Bennett made his appearance, my two sisters and mom flew in to have some fun and be here to help me out. We had a great time doing the Hawaiian tourist thing and spending time together eating, laughing, eating some more and chatting it up.
To try to get me to go into labor on Sunday before my scheduled induction we hiked up a look out place here in Hawaii and it did not do a thing! I don't know if I would ever go into labor on my own.
Monday morning I called over to the hospital to see if there was room for me to come in for my scheduled induction. If they have too many women in labor they bump you to the next day. Thankfully they told me to come on over. We live right next to the hospital so we walked on over and got all checked in. They started with some blood work and just after they got me going they came in to tell me that there were a few woman that walked in in labor and that they wouldn't be able to start me for awhile. WHAT? So, they wanted to send me home but my doctor convinced them to just wait a little and then start me up...which they did, at 2:00 in the afternoon. Nate and I tried to just enjoy our time together before all the excitement would start.
At 2:00 they gave me some pitocin. I was 80% effaced and 1 cm dialated. After 2 hours on pitocin the doctor check me and I was 4cm so she broke my water (4:30). The contractions kicked into high gear so at 5:00 I got my epidural...love those things like crazy. :) I rocked it out for a little while not feeling anything and it was great. I told the nurses to check me lots because I go fast and I wanted my sisters and mom to be there. At 7:15 they checked me and I was at 5cm. They switched nurses over and the new one came in to meet me. I chatted with her and I asked her to just check me again to make sure, this was at 7:45. She kind of made a funny face when she checked me and called for another nurse to come in. I was a 9, almost 10 and ready to go! So, in 45 min I went from a 5-10cm! My sisters and mom ran over, they prepped the room, they called the doctor and Bennett came at 8:26pm! It was such a special night. I loved having my sisters and mom there to welcome this sweet little spirit. Nate was feeling faint standing up at my head, so my mom cut the cord. We got some great pictures of our little guy so fresh. He was covered, I mean covered in the white cheese as we call it. He just nestled up to me and I just couldn't get enough of him. He cried and screamed for the first hour or so which made the doctor and nurses happy. What a miracle it all is! I am so thankful for the memory I have of this special day. We love out Bennett!

My sister Hilary holding Bennett

My sister Heather holding Bennett

The girls definitly enjoyed their cupcakes at the hospital

We had a birthday party at the hospital. I wrapped up some presents for the girls and we had cupcakes. We sang Happy Birthday to Bennett and made a party of the day.

My sister, Heather made matching shirts for the girls and baby. I loved having them dressed all cute! I will definitely have to plan a little photo shoot to take some more pictures.

Brinlyn loves ducks and brought one of hers to give to the baby. She happily set it on his blanket.

Each of the girls brought presents to give Bennett. Elli had made some pictures and they each wrapped up stuff my mom had bought. They were so excited to give all their gifts to him.
The girls were so excited to come meet their little brother. I love the look on their faces as they entered the room.
I cried and was SO emotional when my girls came to meet Bennett. They were so sweet and just loved him instantly.

And he makes his first appearance...

Funny sayings

I wanted to jot down a few funny things the girls have said before I forget.
We were at church on Sunday listening to the speaker when he said in his talk something to this effect..."We can show love by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked..." I didn't think the girls were paying any attention when all the sudden Brinlyn shouted, "He just said naked!" We died laughing and so did half the congregation. :)

Elli has been working on saying prayers. The other day she said her prayer and at the end she said, "Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Amen". We have been working with her but she just forgets how to close the prayer. It was pretty funny.

36 Weeks

I'm looking pretty ragged in this picture but hey, you get the point that yep, I'm almost 36 weeks prego in this one. I can't believe now as I type this I am pushing 38 weeks. Ahh...time is flying by. I sure grow these little babies. I get people saying some pretty funny things to me.

Slumber Party!

We have one sleeping bag for the girls that they think is pretty cool. It has a blow up mattress underneath. For about two weeks straight they would go to sleep on the floor, (taking turns who got the Dora bed and who had to sleep next to the bed). One thing we have learned about having two girls is, you have to have two of EVERYTHING or they fight over it. One great thing about sharing a room with your sister is you get to spend lots of time together. They are the best of buds these days. Every night they talk to each other before they fall asleep. I love just sitting in the other room listening to what they say. Elli always falls asleep first and Brinlyn quietly finds something else to do until she is tired. I don't think Brinlyn has ever come out of the room during bedtime which is amazing when you consider her personality. She just keeps herself occupied until she finally falls asleep herself. Maybe that is the blessing of a pacifier. She only gets her pacifier at nap and bedtime so these times of the day have become her favorite. :)

What is that?

Not too long ago I was at the ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor for Brinlyn to do our usual 3 month check on the tubes in her ears. Brinlyn absolutely loves anything super little--squinkies, polly pockets...She is often found carrying one around with her and on this particular day she insisted on bringing her little piggy squinky to the appointment. I didn't think anything of it but when the doctor came in the room and saw she was holding this little mini thing, she proceeded to scold me on my parenting and how this is a choker and much too little for a two year old to be playing with. Um...I'm pretty sure I came to get her ears checked and not to be told what my kid can play with! I was super annoyed. So, this picture just cracks me up as Brinlyn put this little polly pocket baby up her nose and thought she was so funny. I realize this could cause some problems but why live your life worried over things like this? Putting mini babies up the nose is a normal two year old thing to do, right?

Baby Shower

I was SO spoiled by all my good friends here! I am not one that loves to get a lot of attention or be the center of attention but my friends wouldn't take no for an answer when it came to having a baby shower. Rachelle, Erin and Kristi put a lot of work into all the delicious food, party favors and invitations. I love these girls! It was a brunch style shower and let me tell ya, the food was AMAZING! We visited and enjoyed being girls without our husbands and kiddos.
Erin made these cute party favors that said, "Thank you for helping us welcome Jenny's new lil' bean". They looked professional because she is just so talented that way. So cute! We are ready for this little guy to get here...all we need is a name! :)