Snow Fun

For the most part, the kids have had to enjoy the snow on their own this year.  And as you can tell from the picture above, it's not necessarily a good thing.  Dalanie probably wouldn't have gotten her boots on if I hadn't walked out to get the mail.  "She didn't want to take her mittens off."

I love the imprints of snow angels.  The girls made several one day.

Oh Dalanie, see her mischievous smile there as she grabs hold of the electric fence.  Some people have to learn the hard way.

My Wish

I hold you and watch your little chest rise and fall with each breath.  You are a miracle.  Children are a beautiful blessing from God.  Being a mother is such a sacred and special opportunity.    

I do not know the distance you traveled to come to our earthly home, but I am glad you are here. Your tiny fingers grasp hold of my finger and hold on, reminding me or my responsibility to love, protect, and teach you.

The newness and and innocence of your cry is sweet music to my ears.  You tell me you need me.  And I am happy to be needed.

When you sleep, you still dream of your life in heaven.  You remember the princess that you are, a daughter of our Heavenly King.  May you always remember whose you are and be a light in a darkening world.  This is my wish for you.

Love,
Mom

Hanging Out

When the doctor suggested a 'no visitor policy' I thought the door to my solitary confinement cell had been slammed shut.  I fretted over how I'd cope and deal with the isolation and crossed my fingers it didn't magnify my baby blues.  I have been doing my best to follow the rules and keep contact minimal in order to avoid unnecessary illness.  And although I'm completely out of the loop, it's been a nice change of pace.  (Thank goodness for good counselors that are keeping things afloat while I take a bit of maternity leave from my church calling.) 

With it being tax season and the beginning of the Precision Planting season, I've been doing my share of office work (which I have such an aversion to.)  But if there's one thing I've learned, I can do an awful lot of things from the comfort of my pajamas. 

The weather finally permitted Grandma to come for a visit a few days after Delsie's birth.  I enjoyed the company and the kids loved having someone to play countless games with and her 'Mary Poppins' bag of surprises.

 one week old

Big Sister pajamas and buttons, I think someone likes her new status.

Dalanie's life now revolves around how many times she holds Delsie in a day.  I'm pretty sure she's keeping count.

 This rocking chair in my bedroom has quickly become a favorite hangout.  (There was good reason I was picky and particular about the chair I got.)  I knew it would get a lot of use.

There is so much love for this baby.  As typical, it's sometimes hard for the kids to express their love without it being somewhat rough and rudimentary. 

We had a special candlelight 'birthday' dinner to celebrate Delsie's arrival.  The kids loved making toasts and sipping sparkling grape juice out of the fancy glasses.

Going Home

This is my favorite part about having a new baby, watching your other children welcome them and open their hearts to a new member of the family.  The arrival of our baby had been highly anticipated by each of our kids.  And then to watch them hold Delsie for the first time, you realize that this baby is not a stranger to them.  They have loved and played with her before.

You see love and adoration envelope them.

Grandma and Grandpa Hillman brought the girls up to the hospital to see Delsie.  The weather was horrible, but there was a girl that could hardly eat or sleep until she got to see this baby.  This same girl also took a picture to Show & Tell for the letter "b," baby. So they braved the weather so Dalanie could FINALLY see Delsie.

It was a snowy, blowy night when we finally got out of the hospital.  Delsie has a pretty cozy carseat to ride around in.

Proud big brother.

Our Family

Happy Birth Day

At last, the time came for us to have our baby.  We took the kids to Grandma and Grandpa Hillman's since we were supposed to be at the hospital at 5:00 am the next morning.  

And like before, when I called in at 4:00 am that morning they were full.  But instead of having to wait until the next day, they called us by 8:00 am to say they had room and we could come up any time.

They were expecting us when we walked into Labor & Delivery.  We were greeted by a nice nurse, Yvette.  She made all the difference in our experience.  I was a little nervous since it was my first time at this hospital.  My goal for the day was to "have a good experience and to have a baby."  I expressed a desire to try going natural and she said she'd support me either way, letting me decide as things progressed.  (My desire to go natural was mostly due to the fact that I felt like a failure during most of my pregnancy because of my sickness.  I realized I have no control over how I felt for the past 9 months, but I could be in control of this delivery.)  Every half hour she would increase the dosage of pit.  I was just antsy and felt like things were taking forever, especially considering that the baby had shifted and was no longer putting pressure on my cervix.  I had regressed since my last appointment rather than progress.  But finally by 2:30 pm I was starting to contract regularly.

As the intensity picked up, I was still talking through them.  At 4:45 I was finally dialated to a 7, so Dr. Leavitt broke my water.  The contractions became stronger, but I was still rather calm and dealing with them thinking that there was still a lot of pain between what I was experiencing and a 10 (or the worst pain imaginable according to their pain scale.)  At 5:10 Yvette checked me and I was at a 9 with only a wet washcloth in my hand.  She said that she was calling the Dr. and high-fived me because she was certain I was going to have this baby before her shift ended.  (Her real shift ended at 3:00 but her replacement called in sick so she was there until 5:30- thank goodness!)

Brent suited up along with Dr. Leavitt to help with the delivery.  As soon as they were ready, I felt the urge to push.  Before, all of my babies were here in a matter of four or five pushes.  But this baby was different, she was posterior or sunnyside up.  So the pushing was longer and harder, to the point that I didn't know if I knew how or if I could to do it anymore.  But I quickly pushed those thoughts aside and birthed this baby.  It was an amazing experience, all of it.  

Before the cord was even cut, they put the baby up on my chest.  I just marveled at the miracle of it all and was overcome with emotion.  It was such a nice ending to my long and hard pregnancy.

One proud Daddy.

So at 5:35 pm, we welcomed little Delsie K. into our family.  She weighed in at 7 lbs. 11 oz. and has been such a sweet addition to our family.

Bragging Me Up

Brent posted this on Facebook.  I decided I'd better document it here.

"1st of all our baby girl was born last night at about 5:30. Both Delsie K. and her mom are doing well!!
I want to share a few thoughts (and brag a little) after labor and delivery: So after the most difficult pregnancy that Karisa Parish Hillman has had. She has beared the burden so amazingly well. (I know that a lot of people have tough pregnancies and by no means want to say that it has been tougher than anyone else's cuz all we had to do is hear of a lady that is in the hospital and will be for 4 more months, to realize things could be a lot harder.) But I just want to take a minute and brag on my wife. 

She is SO awesome!! When we were dating one of the things that impressed me the most was her desire to have a family and be a mom. I felt so blessed yesterday when the nurses had to ask us if when we take the baby home, if we will have warm heat and things to take care of it. I don't have to worry one bit of her desire and ability to take care of our children.

The other thing I want to mention is that she feels like she isn't good at being pregnant cause she gets so sick, and consequently feels a little failure. Which I think even more of her for and how well she deals with it. But anyway, she decided that maybe to help her feel a little better about her success of her pregnancy she would try to deliver the baby "natural", meaning without pain medicine. So I supported her in that as well as her nurses. Her nurse was the head nurse in delivery and had this comment: " I am not easily impressed, but I have been doing this for 13 years and never seen someone deliver so well and remain calm and deal with the pain as well as she did, especially with delivering a posterior baby. " All along this pregnancy I have repeatedly reminded Karisa that she needs to write down a lot of notes so that she remembers what she went through, and doesn't forget it in a year or two. But after the delivery the nurse said something that really caused me at least to ponder for a bit. She said WOW you guys really ought to have more kids. 1st of all your married! Second she delivers so almost "freakishly" well. And we have wonderful beautiful and healthy babies.

I am not here saying that is our determination but it really made me think of all the babies born in the world and the circumstances that they come into. And makes me feel so grateful for our eternal marriage and good circumstances which we have. And I also hope that Karisa feels great success in her delivery."

Extended Holidays

Our holidays continued with an invitation to go to Island Park with the Stephens.  Grandma and Grandpa Parish came along too.  The temperatures really dipped once we got there, so much of our time was spent inside.

Cozy Cabin

Juggling a baby, phone, and iPad.

Best friends.

The girls with Gracie 'zshune."

Elf on the Shelf returns.

Ruby getting some sledding pointers from Hudson.

Hudson insists on using his sled as a snowboard.  He is getting pretty good, 

hopefully one of these days he'll get the chance to go snowboarding for real.

3D Movies, the glasses make the boys feel cool.

Watch out for that. . . 

TREE!

 Let's be honest, Brent did most of the activities with the kids.  At this point I was feeling yucky and really uncomfortable.  I usually love playing in the snow, but was grateful he was willing to brave the frigid cold.  They groomed a sledding run, dug a snow cave, went on snowmobile rides, strapped on their snowshoes and went for a hike.  I just made sure that there was hot chocolate ready when they came in.