First Half of March

Let's be honest, not much has been happening the first half of March other than trying to adjust to 5 kids. The first week after bringing Davy home, Richie was home from work and mostly dealt with the 4 older kids while I limped along. We did zero school, as I had promised the kids (mostly Miles)who had been desperately wanting a break. The second week, My Mom came up to help and took the lead, and we did a tiny bit of school. Emphasis on the tiny bit, just to help us ease into things. The 3rd week, I tried my best to get back into a school routine. But pair that with Daylight savings time, and we were "making it", but just barely. Thank goodness I haven't had to cook dinner in about a month! For real! People have been so generous, and between the meals and family offering to watch my kids etc, getting back to "normal" is slowly becoming a reality.

When Miles was almost 3, a generous, anonymous person gave this train set to a teacher Richie was doing his student teaching with. He gave it to him on his way out the door for Christmas break, so we stuffed it in the van, and laid it out with the other meticulously chosen or made presents on Christmas morning. The train set was the obvious favorite and provided Miles with endless hours of play. He was mildly obsessed. It eventually found its way downstairs and wasn't played with much. But the week Davy was born, it made a resurgence. We figured Benson would be able to appreciate it now. He became obsessed! The other kids also really got into it again. It kept them busy while I took care of Davy for hours. Probably one of the best free things we've ever been given! :)


Keepin it real. This is how I look most days. :) And don't you love the fact that my postpartum hair loss from Benson finally started growing back, to give me an even more wild and crazy look? Just in time to lose that hair again!



I bought a few things off Amazon and saved some activities for when Davy came that I knew would be semi-educational and not require a whole lot from me. They enjoyed working through a kiwi crate about whales, water beads, Mad-Libs, and this fake snow stuff which was pretty cool.



Have I written here about Family Band? I'm pretty sure I have. Richie still faithfully gets the kids together to practice their instruments separately and together on Sunday before church. Sometimes it's more pleasant than others...but hopefully the kids are creating both skills, but more importantly some great memories to look back on.


Once again, thank goodness for Aunt Makenna. When our homeschool group kind of dissolved earlier in the year, we decided we'd stick it out, our 2 families, and finish the history curriculum. We only meet twice a month now and take turns hosting. It was my turn to host this week, but when I texted her about my plans, she (to make a long story short) took over, making my life a lot easier. We decided to celebrate "rainbow" day, which has become somewhat of a tradition. All I did was cut up some rainbow fruit. She had crafts and music time, and treats! We were so grateful!


Aunt Jenn came for a quick visit! She was up for a teacher conference thing, and stopped by so that the kids could fight for her attention and show off for her for an hour straight. She was like a celebrity. The kids were so excited, and Jenn was so attentive and way more enthusiastic than I usually am. :) Eventually I had to send them downstairs because I wanted her attention before she had to go. It was too short, but we did get to chat for a bit, which was so nice.

Davy is getting adjusted to home life :)

Lots of cuddles with everyone! He loves to be held, and we're happy to oblige. I can easily trust the 3 oldest to hold him without supervision. I'm not comfortable with them carrying him around yet, but that will come. It's nice having so many extra helping hands! And the black and white picture is our first night all together at home, during scripture study. It felt so surreal walking in the room to see all FIVE of my kids together!


We've had lots of visitors drop by to get to know Davy. And I've been really lousy at taking pictures to document it. But here's one of Aunt Makenna and Caleb meeting Mr. Davy. :)


Those first few Sundays, when the baby is still too little to go to church, and everyone else heads off to church, and I'm at home with only the baby....I greatly cherish these times with each of my kids. I not only love it because the house it quiet and I can really just focus on the baby and resting, but because I feel like the home becomes a little more sacred. I know I'm missing out on the sacrament and lessons etc, but there is such a tender spirit on Sundays at home with a new baby. Plus, is there anything better in the entire world than snuggling a new baby on your chest??? In some ways, it breaks my heart to know this is our last newborn. The newborn stage is over in the blink of an eye. Getting those precious baby snuggles is...I can't find the right word. It's gotta be one of the closest things to heaven on earth, and I feel privileged that we have had the opportunity 5 times, and also sad that it will only be 5 times.



Grandma Crosby comes to visit! We weren't sure if she would be feeling up to coming and helping this time around because of her cancer treatments. I kind of had to toughen my mind and get it wrapped around the fact that she probably wouldn't be coming. I was so grateful she was able to!! Grandma Garner was feeling so sick those first couple of weeks and unable to come over and interact much, but she kept us well fed with healthy food! We were SO grateful! Then Grandma Crosby came up and took the older kids to a movie, out to lunch, to the store to get supplies for a craft etc. And then she came down with some sort of bug! She felt like she wasn't helping as much as she should be, but I was just completely grateful for an extra pair of hands to hold Davy while I did other things. When it came time for her to head home, I held it together pretty well until Miles started crying, so then I did too. I'm pretty sure I always cry when Mom leaves, and I'm left alone with more kids than I've ever cared for on my own. It always seems so daunting. I'm so spoiled, and grateful that I've had 2 wonderful mothers who always help me ease through the transition of adding children to our home.


Cuteness!!! All the little faces newborns pull are fantastic. If you wanted to document them all, you'd have to have a camera over them 24-7, because they happen so quickly, they are usually gone before you can get the camera ready! So I'm grateful for the ones that we do snap, and also grateful for all the little faces that Davy pulls that only I get to see.


FIVE KIDS!!! UNREAL!!

Lindy turns 5!

In the morning we had our usual pancake birthday breakfast. :) She got her #5 pancake and she got to open a present from her cousin Erma and the birthday cards she had gotten that week. She felt so special!


Grandma and Grandpa Garner brought pizza for dinner!



I realize the first 3 pictures are almost identical, but I couldn't help it. They were all so cute! We invited all the Wallace kids up north here to come with us to the Butterfly Biosphere. It recently opened at Thanksgiving Point, and I've been wanting to take the kids there, but felt unable. I still stayed home with Davy, and Richie wrangled the other 4, with help I'm sure from the Wallace clan. The day before her birthday, she asked what kind of party she was going to have, and then seemed shocked that we weren't having a friend party. I felt bad because she's never had a friend party, and I knew she'd love it. I also knew it would be almost impossible for me to pull off. So I thought checking out this new butterfly venue would make things feel exciting, and having her cousins come with made it all the more festive.


They came over after and we had cake and ice cream and opened presents. Lindy requested a rainbow cake inside, and pink all over the outside. And these 2 crummy pictures are all I have to show for the fun night! The cake turned out great and met her specifications perfectly. :) She got a new scooter and a hoola-hoop, as requested :) And then was spoiled with other gifts from the Wallaces! She felt so special!!

David Crosby Garner

I was originally due on February 28th, but early on in my pregnancy the Dr. moved it to February 18th. I asked him multiple times at multiple appointments if he was still planning on the 18th, because I didn't want to get my head wrapped around the 18th, only to go past that date, and live in anxiety for the next 2 weeks. He always assured me that the 18th was the day. The 18th came and went. Then then 19th, 20th, and 21st, on which day I had an appointment. I asked him if I could be induced. He said I'd have to wait till Monday (the 25th)since he was at a conference that weekend. And then on his way out the door he casually threw out, "Maybe your due date really was the 28th!"

So I not-so-patiently waited 4 more days. As much as I wanted to just slow down and enjoy the last bit of my time being pregnant, especially knowing that this was my last, it was really hard to be positive. I was so incredibly uncomfortable. Richie and the kids worked so hard around the house to keep it tidy just in case I went into labor, and they pampered me with foot massages and baths. I have the best husband and best kids, hands down! Although I was scheduled to be induced on Monday, I tried to put it out of my head because I've heard so many stories of people waiting to be induced who keep getting pushed back because women in active labor come first. I told myself I'd have to wait another day or two. Well, Sunday night a nurse called me to let me know they had plenty of beds available and to plan on coming in at 7 tomorrow morning!

Our plans took a turn when we realized that Mom (Garner) had come down with some nasty sickness and didn't want to risk having the kids with her, in case it spread to baby. So who was going to watch the kids tomorrow while we had this baby? Aunt Makenna to the rescue! She stepped in immediately and it wasn't until we got that all figured out that I could actually breath a little. She saved the day, truly. Of course, now that I knew this baby was coming tomorrow for sure, I was on high alert. We got the kids in bed, I had a good cry by myself in the bathroom (typical for me every time I go into labor) and then despite my achy body, I started cleaning the house, packing bags, putting breakfast in the crockpot, etc. Finally, Richie convinced me to watch a show with him to get my mind off things. We stayed up later than normal because I couldn't shut my brain off. And to top things off, Benson had a truly awful night's sleep (not typical for him). So we woke up the next morning, preparing to bring a new baby into the world, completely and utterly exhausted.

The only hiccup in our plan was that we didn't feel comfortable calling anyone over to the house that early in the morning to be with the kids while Richie got me checked in at the hospital. So we prepped the kids on what would happen that morning, put Miles in charge, had breakfast ready for them, and then Richie took me to the hospital. After I was all checked in, he went back home and got the kids ready to take up to Aunt Makenna's. We have let the kids stay home alone for 20 minutes, here and there, if we needed to run an errand or something. But this time, we were gone for about an hour. They were a little nervous, I was a little nervous, so I felt a million times better once I knew they were safe at Aunt Makenna's house, and Richie was next to me in the hospital room strumming away happily on his ukulele.

I had such a sweet nurse and we got the pitocin started nice and slow. By about noon, the contractions were getting a little uncomfortable. Not enough to warrant an epidural yet, but I took one anyway because the anesthesiologist was heading into surgery and I didn't want to risk not having one. The pain subsided and I took a nap! At one point I got a little light headed and hot and sweaty, so they monitored my blood pressure, but everything was fine. I was just so exhausted. I literally just laid there and chatted with Richie, slept, watched Netflix etc. The nurse kept thinking things would speed up once something happened, like breaking my water etc. I kept telling her, nope, my labors take about 12 hours. She didn't believe I'd labor till 7. Well around 5, the contractions were getting noticeably more painful. I love epidurals because it takes the edge off, but I could still feel all the pressure I needed to. By 7, I was fighting the urge to push until the Dr. could get in the room and ready to go. All it took was pushing through one contraction, and Davy was here! It was the most pain I'd felt while pushing the baby out, but of course all is forgotten once they place that baby on your chest. There's nothing like it in the world. Nothing.

He officially made his entrance at 7:11, weighing 9lbs and 8 ounces, 21 inches long, and I think 15 inch head. He was so calm and relaxed, crying only enough to let us know he was ok. He took to nursing right away; I was amazed and how quickly he caught on. Richie let me have all the time I wanted with him on my chest, and then he took his turn snuggling our last baby.

As we switched rooms, Baby Davy got to meet one of his namesakes. Grandpa Garner came to visit. It was fun telling him that this baby bears his name. We had kept it under-wraps for the entire pregnancy, so it was fun to let him know, and soon after, to call my Mom and Dad and let my Dad know that Davy's middle name, Crosby, is in honor of him. Our last boy, named for both of our fathers. It just felt right.

Later that night, as I was trying to catch some sleep, they informed me that Davy's blood sugars were too low, and that he would have to be moved up to the primary children's wing for the night and put on an IV. Bummer. I didn't feel scared for him at all, I knew it was mostly a minor problem. I was mostly irritated that I would have to vacillate between the 2 floors now, and that we would inevitably be receiving a new bill now. That, and also that we'd have to stay longer in the hospital than we like to. On the IV, his blood sugar improved. The next day however, his IV fell out. They tried to put another one in his other hand, but failed. Rather than putting an IV in his head, they called the Dr. who said, "Let's just see how well he does without weaning him off, instead of dealing with another IV." For which I was grateful, but also anxious that his levels wouldn't improve enough and we'd have to stay longer. So I texted people and enlisted their prayers on Davy's behalf. The next morning, his levels still weren't exactly perfect, but our pediatrician is a little more relaxed than others. She gave us the O.K. to go home, and I was so grateful. I just wanted to be home with my babies!

Richie dropped Miles and Gwen off at their once a week school, brought Lindy and Benson to the hospital and picked up Davy and I and we were on our way by about 10:30 on Wednesday morning! More to come.