Happy Birthday Anna!

This sweet girl turned ONE on April 7th! I don't want to be cliche and say "where did time go", but really...where did time go?!?! 

Annie has graced our home with the kindest, most genuine, loving, gentle little spirit imaginable. We love her oh so much!!

Some facts about Miss Anna Dell:

*Not quite walking yet...probably within the next month or two

*Seven teeth

*She points at everything with her chubby little index finger

*She smiles at EVERYONE. When we're out and about, people are always commenting at what a happy baby she is. My sister-in-law said it best...she's such a Cheezer! 

*She stiffens her legs and points her toes to communicate that she wants to be picked up, or she wants you to stand up while holding her, or she doesn't want to get out of the tub, or doesn't want to be put down, ect. 

*She likes to eat chalk and crayons. I try my very best to make sure there aren't any around, yet somehow she always finds a crayon or piece of sidewalk chalk!

*She's a good little climber already. I have found her up on the couch several times, and she has even climbed into the car!

*She adores her brother and sister and they adore her back. Lucy loves holding her hands to help her walk, and Todd wrestles with her nearly every day. 

We love you, Annie! Happy Birthday baby girl!

Anna's Blessing

We packed up and headed to California for Anna's baby blessing. We had wanted to bless her back home, but no one was able to come out. So we went to them! It was especially wonderful because my grandfather was able to participate along with our brothers-in-law. My beautiful Auntie Dell was also able to make it down for the blessing. How grateful we are to be surrounded by such loving family!
When I was first married, I had told myself that I wanted to make my my daughters' blessing dresses. The reason being was that I wanted to incorporate my wedding dress into their blessing dresses. And I did just that. About a week before we left to go to California, I gathered my supplies and began working. Leave it to me to wait til the last minute to start making something! Good thing I had a 7 hour car ride to sew on the beading...literally finishing the last of it as we pulled up the driveway. The beading is the same beading used on my wedding dress. I had also made a dress for Lucy using this beading. I am not a seamstress by any means! I don't know how many directions I skipped in the process. Which would probably explain why Annie's dress was somewhat falling apart by the end of church. Threads dangling all over just crying to be cut off. But I can at least say that I did it, right?! Her booties and headband are also handmade. My mom found them at the Quilted Bear in Salt Lake. I just embellished them a little.
In case you're wondering, I did not cut the beading off of my dress. I had some extra.
I'm not that crazy! :)
(And remind me to not get my bangs cut again...they tend to have a mind of their own!)

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

I'm in survival mode these days. Three kids under the age of four is not an easy gig, people! I had some amazing help from my mom and mother-in-law for the first couple of weeks and now that they are gone, (sniff sniff), I'm having to learn how to function all over again. Alex and I are experimenting with different routines to try to make life a little easier and more enjoyable for all of us. Cause man oh man... going on only a couple of hours of sleep sure has me short tempered among other not so wanted characteristics. But instead on wallowing in my "Worst Mom of the Year" award,  I try to find ways to recharge - removing myself from the situation, sleep, sugar, and blogging too. And thank goodness for an awesome backyard where the kids want to go and are out of my hair for a little bit! 

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine, restoring my energy, and feeling like a decent mom again. I don't think I can handle the guilt of putting on another movie for these kids! Oh well...guilt handled. 

This is normal with three kids, right? Oh I hope so. Cause I lost my Super Mom cape and I don't think it's ever coming back. Oh yea...that's right...I never had one. 

Carry on...Carry on.

Calm or not. 

Anna's Birth Story

Never had I wanted to hold a baby so badly. To feel those ten little fingers wrap ever so gently around mine. To kiss those ten little toes. To smell that fresh little head of hair.
What started out as a surprise pregnancy turned into months and months of anxiously awaiting our sweet baby girl to arrive. Oh how I couldn't wait!! I sure as heck couldn't wait to have my own body back too! It's exhausting sharing your body with another person.

My original due date was April 14th, but the fact that I was already dilated to a 4 and 70% effaced two weeks before her due date, I knew she was coming soon.
Being my third baby, I really wanted to have my mom in the room with us when the baby was born. The original plan was to call my mom when I started going into labor and she would either fly out or drive the six hours to be there. It was Thursday the 4th and my mom had plans to go up to San Francisco the next day to take care of some family business. I told her that I really felt that if she went up to SF that she would miss the baby being born. So instead she flew into Tucson late Friday night. We had a ton of fun on Saturday going from place to place getting things in preparation for the baby. Dragging two kids along with us wasn't quite the fun part. :) So, after dinner, Alex watched the kids while my mom and I went out for a couple more hours. At about 8:30pm I started feeling mild contractions every ten minutes. My mom asked if I wanted to go home, and I insisted that we stay out and about. I wanted this baby to come!! We got home after 10pm and settled in for bed. My contractions had slowed down quite a bit. I was totally disappointed. At about 11:30, the contractions started picking back up again. Come 1am, the contractions were between 5 and 8 minutes apart. My doctor had told me to come in when they were 6 minutes apart. I shook Alex awake and told him we needed to go. Being dead asleep, he didn't quite process what I said and pulled the sheets up over his shoulders. I shook him harder and emphatically repeated that we needed to go to the hospital now. He jumped out of bed, I made sure that I had everything that I needed, and we headed out the door. It's funny how much more calm I was this third time around. Looking back on when I had Lucy, my pain tolerance was so low. I have definitely become a lot more tough over the last few years. What once would have felt like an 8 on a pain scale of 10, was now a 4.

I checked in, they checked me (I was at a 5 and 80%), and we checked out our new living quarters for the next 36 hours. That empty plastic bassinet was soon going to have a new life sleeping in it.
I got an epidural in at about 4am.
Now was the waiting game...
We turned down the lights and tried to get some sleep. Well, Alex slept just fine, but I couldn't sleep between the contractions and the fact that I was so itchy all over from the epidural! The itchiness was a first for me. So annoying!
My mom was at home with the kids awaiting my call for when she should have my friend come over to watch the kids so she could meet us at the hospital. The doctor came in and broke my water at about 6am. After breaking my water, everything was ready to go! I just had to wait to finish some antibiotics before I could start pushing. I called my mom and told her to come as soon as she could. She made it to the hospital at about 6:30am. Shortly thereafter, I started pushing. Alex was there to help coach me through and after a few pushes, the doctor had Alex put on some gloves so he could deliver the baby! Alex was right there, guiding the way for the baby.
 At 7:11 am on April 7th, Alex delivered our little baby girl and put her right onto my chest.
Anna Dell Geyer was lovingly welcomed into this world!
She was 7lbs, 2oz and 20.5 inches long. A perfectly healthy, beautiful little girl.

Who knew that our hearts would grow so much that day...three sizes in fact! We're so grateful for and so in love with our precious little Annie.

(And a special THANK YOU to my mom for the beautiful pictures!)

(This is my I've been up for over 24 hours and just had a baby face)

And a little welcome home sign made by the kids (with a little help)