Spring Break & 35

Jeremy took 10 1/2 days off around Hyrum's spring break & it was great to all be together.  (I would be a huge supporter of a 2 to 3 week paternity leave bill being passed.)  And unlike Michigan, it was actually SPRING here!  It rained a lot but it is blooming all over the place & so beautiful.  I think every year I forget how gorgeous it is in the spring & how much I love the color green.

I was able to take lots of good naps-yay for sleep!  We went on a few first time 7-person-family excursions.  You know, really exciting things like going to Target, Bass Pro Shop & to the park :-).  Dallen is such a sport!  I wore him everywhere we went & he would promptly fall asleep & stay out the whole time we would be gone.

Saturday this fine man turned 35!  Holy cow-the 30's are half over for him.  We didn't take a lot of pictures the rest of the week so these are all from the birthday day.  We spent the morning at one of our favorite parks.  It was a perfect, sunny, 65 degree day.  If it never got hotter than that all summer long I would be perfectly happy.

 

What did Dallen do?  Sleep of course!

Then Pa flew into town that afternoon.  We spent the rest of the day playing in the yard & going swimming after dinner.  Everyone had so much fun.  We had two major breakthroughs.  Hunter is fine in knee-deep wading water but anything deeper & he won't even go in the pool.  But this time he went out in the deep end with Pa a few times & was smiling & laughing the whole time playing in the water.  I couldn't believe it.  His favorite thing was to play shark of course.  Anything that involves being chased.  The second breakthrough was that Hyrum went down the big slide!  HYRUM did this.  Sometimes I don't even recognize the kid.  He has changed so much in the last while.  He's always been so cautious & nervous to try things & he just isn't like that anymore.  He climbed those stairs & headed right down.  I was so proud of him.  I need to get those boys in swim lessons.

And what did Dallen do?  Sleep of course!

 

I love this picture!  Happy Birthday Babe!

2 weeks

           

Dallen is two weeks old (yesterday).  He is still the sweetest baby & I can't imagine our home without him!  He is a superstar nurser & sleeps pretty well at night.  Yay!  And even though he was a 9-pounder he feels like such a lightweight compared to those twins of ours :-)

We were so incredibly lucky to have Nana come stay with us for 15 days!  I do not like to even think what life would have been like without her here.  The kids took to her immediately & she kept the 4 older kids entertained, fed & happy & still had time to hold Dallen.  She took each of the older boys out on a one-on-one date, & they were all able to do lots of Easter egg hunts, go to the Nature Center, library, gymnastics & the park.  

Welcome Dallen Frost Shakespear!!!

John 16:21

"A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world"

My thoughts exactly John!

Can I just start off by saying how much I love our newest little man?! He is such a great baby & I am so grateful he is in our family.

Sorry if this is too long but I think it's the best birth story ever for me! Last Thursday I was scheduled for an induction at 5am so of course we didn't actually get to the hospital & in the room until 1:30 pm :) I started on PIT around 2:30 & had my beautiful, perfect epidural at 4:30ish. The nurse upped the PIT by twice as much & I went from a 3 cm to an 8 1/2 cm in one hour. One hour! I sat up in a way to help move him down further & told me to call them when I felt like pushing. About 3 minutes later I felt like pushing & after 3 pushes out popped his head & one more push & he was all the way here! I was in labor for 4 1/2 hours & my next shortest labor I think was 13/14 hours. I am hardly sore at all & recovering fast.

At 6:44pm on Thursday March 1st, 2012 Dallen Frost Shakespear was born at a big 9 pounds even & 21 1/2 inches long. He is healthy, strong, beautiful & perfect. Oh and he is a fabulous nurser -- I am sooooooooooo excited that is working out better than last time.

We went home Saturday afternoon to some sick kids. Hunter has strep throat & Justin has an ear infection so Dallen is being quarantined in our room. We are all sleep deprived around here but are all in love with our new baby!