Newborn photos

It was so great to be able to have Anniston's newborn photos taken in our home. It made it nice to be able to let Jayda and Bentley go play when they were done and we were comfortable in our own environment.

 Sweet, sweet Jayda.... Anniston chose to pee all over Jayda while they were taking their sibling photos. This priceless pick was Jayda holding her and not knowing quite what to do. She didn't cry or freak out, she just looked at us for help and stayed calm.

Time goes by so quickly

There are so many things that have happened in a year and I wasn't sure if I was going to continue writing in this blog, but have changed my mind. It is always so fun to look back at all of the pictures and share a little about our experiences and memories together. So here goes another try at catching up on an entire year and then hopefully I will be better about it from here on out.

Sweet baby sleeping with her awesome dad.

 We threw a little New Years Eve party since Landon and Melissa were in town. We played a few games and had snacks and a photo booth. It was Jason and Jenae's first year in their new home so they had a party up in Heber with friends and couldn't make it.

 Something we do every night is check on each of the kids to see how they are sleeping and if there is anything we need to do to help them out. They seriously do some crazy stuff but it is a fun memory we will always have.
Here is Anniston being perfect :) I'm sure she will end up just like the other two crazies though.

 Jayda loves to snuggle with Marley even though she is not allowed on furniture or in beds. Somehow Marley would sneak up and they would both be all sweaty because the sleep on each other's faces. I don't know how they were breathing.

 Miss Jayda is always hot when she sleeps and apparently was too hot for her clothes.

 We let the kids push their beds together and found them holding hands. (Also, drool but not as cute as the holding hands part)

 This night they pulled everything down onto the floor so they could sleep together.

For some reason they thought the hall was a great idea. Also, if you look close you can see a pair of scissors which they used to give teddy bear a hair cut and also a snippet of Jayda's hair.

I stayed home from church for a few weeks so I had to take a picture of Jayda and Bentley on their first day of primary together. Bentley is a Sunbeam and Jayda is in CTR 5.

 My sweet grandparents stopped by to meet the newest addition to the family.

 Bryce was able to spend a full 2 weeks at home with us which was wonderful. He made himself busy by building a table for the entryway so we could have a place to put our shoes and decorations. Bentley loved to be out in the garage helping and using daddy's tools.

 Marley knows that the baby is off limits and is very gentle and controls her curiosity. She is a
sweetheart and lays as close to her as she can.

 I wanted to remember just how much hair she had and how dark it was.

 I try to keep the kids busy by doing crafts and activities with them. This one was valentines shakers which were a success.

Anniston Olivia Schow

The 9 month journey of cooking up Anniston was a pretty good one. Of the 3 pregnancies, I would say this one was the best. The weather was good and I was not working at a desk all day so I was able to stay active and it made a huge difference. I also did prenatal videos almost daily and continued running on the treadmill and lifting weights a few days a week until about 8.5 months. I had less swelling overall but a ton of heartburn! I ended up gaining 37 pounds instead of the 49 I gained with the other two. Hopefully this will make my recovery slightly easier.

 

20 weeks

                                                                         26 weeks

                    I froze my poor family to death. The house was usually at 65 degrees.

 My sweet friends Jen and Kim bought this shirt for me when I didn't win a contest with the above picture.

 

34 weeks

   We expected Anniston to come about 2 weeks early because that is what the other two did, but she wanted to bake in the oven a little bit longer. I was scheduled to be induced on the 27th and LDS hospital called me on the 26th to give me instructions for checking in. They told me to call them at 6am and that the kids were not allowed to visit us in the hospital at all. For some reason, probably hormones, this phone call majorly stressed me out. I did not want to be induced and I was really upset that the kids would not be able to be there because of the flu season. At 9 o'clock that night I started having a few contractions and by 2 am I woke up with consistent painful contractions. I layed there for an hour timing them and then got up and showered. By 3:30 I figured it was time to wake Bryce up and head to the hospital.
Miraculously my good friend Mindy was working and was my first nurse until 7:30 am when her shift was over. She was there when we checked in with Bentley and it was so great to see her again.
The whole experience was great. I had a fabulous anesthesiologist who explained everything to me and made it so that I could feel a little bit, but was not in pain. Dr K broke my water at 6:30am and our beautiful baby girl was born at 10:25am.  She weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces and was 21 inches long.
                              This is me waiting and a pic of Bryce snoozing on the couch.

 Anniston cried when they took her over to check her out, but as soon as they layed her on my chest she quieted and just looked at me.

 Love Dr. K. He is such a nice guy and does such a great job. Anniston had the cord wrapped around her neck twice which was scary, but he was able to get it off with no big issues.

 

 The first to arrive that day were Jason and Jenae. Jase had a little cold so he didn't hold her, but it was great to see them and nice to have the support.

                                                          Nani with grandbaby #3

Even though her papa had just had a knee replacement 12 days earlier, he still hobbled his was on crutches to see her.

 We left the hospital Sunday after lunch, went home to shower and rest for a little bit and then headed up to my parents' to introduce her to her big brother and sister. They were both thrilled to meet her. Jayda had been begging to see her all day long.

 First family pic 

 We were lucky to have Landon and Melissa here for a few days so they could meet her as well. It meant a lot to me that they saw her.

Christmas 2014

Our Christmas this year was fairly simple. We were busy with trying to find a new car, my dad getting a new knee and me just waiting for the baby to be born any day. But we still made time to have a few fun memories as a family.

Below are pics of the Parker's 2nd annual Christmas party. Everyone gets together for treats and hot chocolate and somehow Santa magically knows that we are there and pays us a visit with a surprise for each of the kids. So much fun.

For the first time ever we went to the ward Christmas party where Santa visited as well. Jayda said she wanted a baby doll and a barking dog. Bentley wanted a Captain America shield. Santa was super cute and his bells jingled as he laughed.

 

 

 The weather was crazy this year in a good way. Our first storm was not until Christmas morning so on Christmas Eve we made our own snow to play with inside. It was a mess, but lots of fun.

 Jayda enjoyed sticking her face in it, crazy girl.

 Pathetic as it is, this is the only pic we got of Christmas. We were too busy enjoying the experience of it. Santa brought the barking dog and the Captain America shield along with tools, barbies, ninja turtles and lots of other great prizes. Looks like the kids were good this year.