Random Rosie

My niece just posted this picture of Rosalie! I just had to share!

Busy December!

I realized I haven't really posted a post about our family this month! So here is one!

Our December has been crazy busy! We've had a lot of errands and stuff going on, it makes things fly by, but I am so eager to slow down and enjoy my time! Vivian is growing so fast! I can't believe how big she is getting already! She had her 2 month check up and weighed 12 lbs 15 oz and was 23 inches long! Hooray for breastmilk! I just love that little girl!

Vivian's 2 Month photo

 Caitlin is singing more songs now! She sings "Jingle Bells", "I am a Child of God", and the theme song to The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That! She cracks me up! She is so, so smart for her age! (She will be 3 in March) Caity is almost potty trained! She knows when she needs to go, so we're working on her telling me, in time, so that I can take her to the potty seat. It's kind of hard to do when I'm breastfeeding Vivi, but now that she's getting bigger, I can move around and keep her latched on! Caity went poopy in the potty today and everyone in our house did a happy dance! I am so proud of my sweet baby girl!

Caity at a Christmas party holding her sugar cookie!

 Rosalie is talking more! This makes me happy because up until now, she would scream at the top of her lungs instead of using her words. I know that she is only 18 months, but man oh man is that a tough phase for parents. It literally tests my patience and hearing every 5 minutes while she is awake. So now that she can say, "Owwie here" or "I bonk my head", I am becoming less on the edge! She had her 18 month check up and weighed in at 26 lbs and was 34 inches long! My growing girl! She is looking more and more like me as she gets older! This is not a terrible thing!

This is me!

This is Rosie!

Granted, in the photo I am about 3 or so, but our eyes are totally the same! I see it everyday! I just love this little girl!

We made our gingerbread houses earlier this month! They weren't made from real gingerbread... I guess the politically correct term would be "Graham Cracker Houses", but in my honest opinion, there is no greater sweet snack than eating graham crackers with some vanilla frosting on them! (My mouth is watering just thinking about it...) Now that is a childhood memory worth remembering! Charles and I helped the girls with their houses, but soon found that Rosalie just wanted to eat the candy! Caity actually decorated her house! She was so precise and meticulous to get everything just right! This is one more reason I know she is my child! I am the same way! The houses turned out so well! I was so proud of my Caity Bell! Here are some photos from that night!

Caitlin putting candy on her house!

Rosalie on a sugar high!

Rosalie when the sugar headache kicked in!

Caitlin's Masterpiece!

We had our Christmas photos taken by a family friend, and she did a fantastic job! I will post more photos from the shoot soon! I haven't quite gotten them all edited just yet! It's been super crazy around here!
Christmas crept up on us quickly, but our girls were more than ready to open their presents!  On Christmas Eve, we traveled to my Mom's house in the morning to open presents and start making our family meal! The girls scored big on presents!

Caitlin's Princess Chair

Rosalie's Pixie Chair

 We had a blast hanging out all day! After our meal, almost everyone fell asleep, so Megan, my Mom and Dad, and I played a game of Phase 10! It was awesome! My oldest brother finally showed up around 7 and opened his presents, then it was time to go home and get the girls tucked in for bed!

Christmas morning was exciting for the girls! They knew we had to go to church first and then they were going to be able to open presents when we go home! Getting them out the door was easy! I gave a talk at church about my myself, my conversion story, and how the gospel has changed my expectations and goals in life. It was a very powerful and spiritual experience for me to open up and tell everyone about my not-so-happy childhood. Granted, I did have a lot of wonderful experiences as a child, but I don't remember them very well. We headed home after the first hour of church and opened presents! Here are some pics of the girls in action!

Books for Rosalie!

Puzzles for Caitlin!

More books!

Rosalie pushing her Shopping Cart around!

Caitlin slicing her play food!

About an hour after presents, we put the girls down for nap. They fell asleep fast! Probably because of all the excitement from the day! It gave me the chance to finish up the food for supper and hang out with my hubby!

When they woke up, we got them ready and put Vivian in her first Christmas outfit! Here she is:

We got to my in-law's house and was immediately surrounded by presents and goodies for us all! It was quite a sight! We got down to business fast! Here are more pictures of the excitement!

Rosalie's Peek-a-Boo baby doll!

Caitlin's "LOL" Rollover Dog - She spent most of the night afraid of it!

Charle's "D.A.D.D." Sweatshirt!

Vivian fell asleep on Grandma!

Charles and I got a lot of amazing gifts! We both got clothes, a hot pink portable DVD player, a case for the DVD player, and the Charlie Brown Holiday Movie collection. Charles got a Darth Vader candy jar, a Star Wars: Year by Year book, a Final Fantasy 7 sword key chain, and some miscellaneous items! I got the latest 3 books in the House of Night series, purse organizer, manicure set, and some miscellaneous items!

We have been truly blessed this holiday season! Our family and friends have shown us great kindness and love! Let us all remember that Jesus is the reason for the season. The CHRIST in CHRISTmas! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Photo Sneek Peek!

We had our Christmas photos taken today at Karmen's house! Here are some of the photos that were taken! I'm working on editing and fixing the rest of the photos! But here are some that I've done!

 

Caitlin

Rosalie

Vivian

I will post more once I'm finished with them! :) I'm way excited to send out our Christmas cards this year!

The Second Half of Our Year

July brought Independence day and the girls just LOVED the parade held uptown! We got lucky and got a seat in the shade to watch the whole thing, which was wonderful for my pregnant self! We snapped a few pictures of the girls watching the parade!

Caitlin and her Peace glasses!

Rosalie and her Peace glasses!

We went to the Train Depot to see Clifford the Big Red Dog, but when we got there, Caity was too scared of him. We didn't get any pictures with Clifford. We headed home to put the girls down for their nap. As soon as they woke up, we headed out to our Uncle Dean's house for grilling out, fishing, and hanging out! We spent the entire rest of our afternoon and evening out with them, and had a blast! The girls just LOVED all the toys they had!

Brayton and Caitlin giving High Fives!

Charles caught the only fish that day!

The girls on the giant elephant rocker!

We made it home in time to put the girls to bed, pull out the lawn chairs, and watch the fireworks over the lake down the street from us! (Don't worry, we never left our yard!) We had a lot to be thankful for that day! We had an amazing time with our family!

On July 16th, we were able to go to the Winter Quarters Temple as a family! It was the first time Charles and I had been to the temple since before Caitlin was born! It was an awesome experience for us! Luckily, Dad goes to the temple every Saturday (as a volunteer) and watched the girls while Charles and I attended an endowment session. Dad took the girls to the visitor's center to play! When we were done, we met back up with Dad and Caitlin was so excited to tell us all about the fun she had with her Papa! It was a beautiful day for our forever family!

Carie with baby, Caitlin, Rosalie, and Charles!

Earlier in the month, my brother and his wife welcomed a baby boy into our family! We went to visit them when they visited my Mom for a weekend! The girls just LOVED baby Graydon! It was good practice for them, considering they would be getting a baby sister in a few months! They were so sweet with him and kept giving him sweet kisses!

Caitlin meeting Graydon!

Rosalie meeting Graydon!

August kept us busy at the pool and outside in our yard! A friend of the family bought our girls a play pool for the back yard and the girls went crazy for it! I enjoyed getting the girls out into the sun (with sunscreen on, of course) and it was good for me to not feel contained in my house! I felt like there wasn't a room big enough for my pregnant body!

Charles and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on August 11th! We thought it was crazy that it had been that long already! Ever since we welcomed Caitlin into our family, time has flown by! We decided to slow down and enjoy the day! We grilled steaks for supper and served them with sauteed zucchini, smashed potatoes, and kluski noodles! It was a comfort food medley! And it was delicious!

Charles' little sister Jenny got married in the end of August! We had family that traveled from Texas and stayed with us for the weekend of the wedding! It was a beautiful, small ceremony followed by a packed church for the reception! We were (and are) so happy for Jenny and Matt! And we wish them the best!

Matt and Jenny's first dance!

The entire month of September was spent at home! We were getting everything ready for our baby's arrival! And I was too scared to travel at all, for fear that my water would break and I wouldn't make it to the hospital in time to deliver. The girls had a blast helping me get ready for baby sister's arrival! They helped me with laundry, sorting clothes, putting stuffed animals in her bassinet (that were taken out once she was home, this was more to give the girls something to do!), and packing my overnight bag! They were so helpful!

Rosalie wanting to go with me?! LOVE HER!

Big Sister Caitlin practicing for her new baby sissy!

By October, I was getting restless to have our baby! I wanted her out because I had 2 weddings to be in later in the month! At my 40 week appointment, which was a few days before my due date, my doctor said that if I didn't go into labor on my own by that Wednesday night, he'd induce me the next morning. I got a call from a friend that night who wanted to take some maternity shots of me and the family before we had our baby! The shots are all posted on my facebook, but here are two that we loved the most!

The best family shot we got that evening!

A very pregnant Carie!

 I hit 40 weeks on October 5th, and nothing happened! I got all the finer details together for Dad, who would be watching the girls the whole day while we were in the hospital.

October 6th, we went to the hospital at 6:45 a.m. so that my doctor could induce me early. We registered and headed up to the room. We got everything situated, I was hooked up to the machines, and had an IV lock put in. My doctor came in and said I was dilated to a 3 and was 75% effaced. He put a pill next to my cervix to get it to efface enough so my water would break on it's own.

My Mom and brother, Bob, showed up around 10 and I hadn't had any progress. I was walking around, laughing, talking, and trying to stay positive. My sister-in-law, Teresa, showed up around noon. She has had 3 C-Sections and wanted to witness a live birth. I told her she could watch ours! By 2, I had finally dilated to a 4 and was 85% effaced. PROGRESS! I was pretty excited, but through it all, all I wanted was for Dr. T to break my water! Get the show on the road! But he said that he couldn't get enough of my bag of water to pop it without putting our baby's head at risk.

"Let's get this party started!"

I was given IV fluids and it helped get my contractions going. By 5, Dr. T came in and checked me and I was 100% effaced, but still sitting at a 4 to 5 cm. He decided to go ahead and break my water. He broke my water at 5:03 p.m. The show was on the road!

Instantly my contractions hurt. They were very painful. I did my best to breathe through them and stay focused. By the 11th contraction, the nurses were trying to get everything set up as fast as they could. I looked at Charles and told him that my contractions were getting to be too much for me and that I might need something to help with the pain. I had another contraction, and I said that I would definitely need something. My nurse decided to check me and told me that I was at 7 cm and she was going to get the doctor to see if there was anything that could be given to me.

But there was no time.

As soon as my nurse left, I felt the sudden urge to push. The other nurse ran over and told me not to push. "I'm not pushing! SHE'S COMING!" And not even 3 seconds later, I was told to push her shoulders out. I barely sat up to push when she was out! I was euphoric! My pain was gone and I was staring at Vivian's feet! My doctor came running into the room as my nurses were getting the clamps put on Vivian's cord! Everyone was laughing with joy and disbelief that it happened so fast! Vivian was put on my chest and I got some snuggle time with her while my doctor suited up to deliver the placenta. (Pointless by now!)

Vivian Rane Austin
October 6th, 2011
5:47 p.m.
8 lbs 1 oz
19 1/2 inches

I finally handed Vivian over so they could clean her up (I bled on her because she came out so fast) and let my nurses clean me up. It was at that time that I realized that Charles, Teresa, and my Mom got to see her fall out of me! A blessing for my Mom, considering she got trapped trying to leave the room so I could deliver! Our hospital has a limit of only 2 people to attend the Mother! Haha! Guess we broke the rules!

It was a truly heavenly experience! From the time my water was broken to when Vivian arrived, I depended 100% on my Heavenly Father to give me the strength to make it through the whole thing. When I was about to give up and get pain medication, I was filled with the reassurance that I could birth Vivian without it. And it happened when I about lost my faith in my body and self. Heavenly Father has a way in teaching us just how strong we really are. I felt strong and pushed through it! Although I never really "pushed" at all!

Our healthy, beautiful baby girl!

 Charles and I got to spend the next hour with our newest member of our forever family! Vivian took to breastfeeding right away and it was a beautiful sight! Seeing her in all her newness and marveling at her pure beauty! We had done it, for a third time! We brought a precious, beautiful daughter of our Heavenly Father to this earth!

Caitlin and Rosalie were brought in about 2 hours later and they were SO excited to see their Mommy! We introduced our daughters to each other! Caitlin kept calling Vivian "Baby Heart" and Rosalie kept saying "Sis, Sis, Sis!" We weren't quite sure how Caitlin and Rosalie would be around Vivian at first, but they took to her right away! Caitlin wanted to hold her as much as possible while Rosalie wanted to play in the drawers and cupboards! Hilarious!

Meeting Vivian!

Getting a better look at Vivian's face!

I was released from the hospital the next night! Vivian was welcomed home, officially! We had a little trouble the first week with getting Vivi to sleep at night! Because of the difficulty sleeping during the night, I wasn't able to make it to my best friend, Alyce's wedding. I was suppose to be her Matron of Honor, and I was terribly sad that I couldn't go. But she understood! Then in the second to third week, I had a really bad breast infection from poor latching. After a few days of antibiotics, pain meds, and pumping, Vivian and I established a good latch and have been fine ever since!

Halloween was fun for our family because it was the very first time we have ever taken our girls out trick-or-treating! Last year my Mom and my Sister-in-law each bought a Care Bear costume for cheap at garage sales, and they were both the right sizes we needed for this year! So we got Vivian a bear jacket and the girls went out as Care Bears! We stayed in our neighborhood and the girls got a lot of candy! It was a blessing that the costumes were so warm! It was a chilly night!

Vivian's first Halloween outfit!

Rosalie as Bed Time Bear and Caity as Harmony Bear!

Vivian wearing the hoodie that looks like a bear!

 November brought us Vivian's baby blessing on the 6th! It was a beautiful day! The sun was shining, the leaves were falling, and there was hardly a breeze! We invited Carie's Mom and Dad along with her little sister and brother. And we also invited Vivian's godparents, Mike and Karmen! Vivian's blessing was beautiful! Both Charles and I cried happy tears! In the craziness of the daylight savings time change, we didn't get any pictures with Vivian in her blessing dress at home, as a family, or with her godparents. But we snapped two photos of her with Carie's Mom and Dad! Seen here:

Grandma Tina, Vivian, Aunt Alice, Uncle Jeff, and Grandpa Raymond!

The proud Grandparents!

The next weekend, we had a family trip to see Mikey and Megan's little boy get baptized! It was our first trip as a family since having Vivian, so we were kind of nervous for the 3 hour drive! But all three girls did very well! We had an amazing time with everybody that weekend! The only pictures taken weren't on our camera! So sadly I cannot post a picture of that day on here. But I have a few of the kids playing!

Vivian and Graydon getting to know each other!

Caitlin and Rosalie playing with Graydon!

All of that brings us up to date! Thanksgiving was a great day for us! The girls LOVED the food that Charles' family and I prepared! Vivian couldn't really participate, but everyone had a blast passing her around the entire day! We weren't able to go to Carie's Mom's for the holiday, but with three kids in diapers, sometimes the choice between diapers and gas for the car makes travel hard!

Vivian's Thanksgiving bib and bow!

Now that you are all caught up, I am happy to say that my blogging will become regular again! It's taken me a few days to type all this out! So I am determined to keep up on our blogging!