happy halloween

Can you say cute?? Cali and I had our kids in matching ghost onsies today and the pumpkin hats that my friend in the ward crocheted for the babies...so we took a couple of shots. Disclaimer...we had 10 minutes before my ward party to take these...it was 6 pm so the lighting was horrible and fiona hadn't eaten in a while.

Top Henry, bottom Fiona.

Fiona crying. She kept trying to nurse off of Henry's leg.

Henry sleeping peacefully and Fiona's Chicken legs. Baby legs are the best ever.

Twin cousins. Henry top, Fiona bottom.

Oliver before he left to school this morning.

When did my kids get so old?? Oliver making a scary face.

Carolina and Rob at Oliver's Halloween parade. CC is trying to make a cute face and Rob is trying to make a scary face...I love that his eyes are all the way rolled back in his head. Plus he has his arm around CC...cute.

Oliver was the last one in his class to come through...that is so Oliver.

After school we went with Cali and her FIVE kids to see Cort and Joe at work. The kids went from office to office and got a ton of candy. It was fun to see our husbands. Crazy picture but the first of my 4 boys.

Then it was on to the ward party. It was short and sweet. Everyone ooohh'd and ahhh'd over baby Henry (I can't stop calling him Henny...hmmm), and the boys got quite a bit of candy so I say it was a hit. SO the above picture is obviously a family picture...plus Oliver's friend from school. I didn't have the heart to tell him to get out of the picture. hahaa.

Henry loves to be carried in the sling. I don't typically believe in carrying around a baby all day but this morning I was trying desperately to do oliver's face makeup for school and baby was crying and crying...so I strapped him on and he was pleasant as a peach after that. So it does come in handy in a bind.

Rob adores "henny" and is surprisingly gentle with him.

Now I am hungry and tired....

Last night I was thinking about posting just how great of a sleeper little Henry is. Then I was up all night. Sheesh...that is the worst and something I am not used to AT ALL. For the past 4 nights or so he has only been waking up at around 4 and then at 8 which is great...that I can do. But last night he was struggling all night. Poor guy...poor me.

Cute yawn. For some reason I don't look quite as cute tired as he does. Oliver said he didn't even recognize me.

He had his first bath a couple of days ago...he loved it and didn't even cry at all. He really is such a good baby so far.

In other news, Joey called on Saturday about an hour before the BYU game asking if we wanted tickets. UMMM YES we wanted the tickets. I was super nervous to leave the baby but what can you do, these are some dang good seats and they come with all of the food that you can imagine.

My mother watched my kids and Cali's and Angelique's. She had 9 total. But she is awesome...it doesn't scare her. I totally appreciated it because you can't leave your 10 day old baby with just anyone.

It was so great to be kid free...

The four of us eating.

Cali got asked to lead the BYU band in the fight song. It was awesome...she was so bright red.

Cort and I...Not the best picture but...

Just a picture to show how great the seats are. It was a horrible game and we got creamed but it is always fun to watch a game so close up. We had a great time...and my baby was just fine when I got home.

i'm starvin'

ahhhh. I went the past 9 months not really being able to eat. Now that the baby is out food is all I think about. I weighed myself yesterday and I weigh what I did when I got pregnant. I had only gained about 9 lbs total during my pregnancy. But that is mostly because I lost a lot of weight in the beginning.

It is depressing because I know I am going to gain like ten pounds because of how hungry I am right now.

I just am so hungry.

coming home

These were taken the day we came home from the hospital. I was so glad to be back home. Oliver kept saying..."I feel like crying tears of joy...I never knew they were real until today" He felt so emotional all day he didn't know what to do. He couldn't understand why his eyes felt like they needed to cry. Cute boy. Rob on the other hand spent the night before I got home throwing up...what a welcome home right?? I told him if he wanted to hold the baby he would need to wash his hands...he said "I won't touch the baby". He didn't really either. I thought it was because he wasn't intereseted in the baby...but I really think he was just trying to not get the baby sick. He wants to hold him all the time and uses a baby talk voice I have never heard out of his mouth before.

3 boys...I can't believe it.

The boys are so good with him.

All 4 of us.

We kind of named him Henry out of nowhere....and because of this my children can never remember what his name is. Hahaaa. Oliver keeps calling him Harry. I told him the name is Henry like a hen...now Rob just calls him Henny and says it in a high squeaky voice, and Oliver keeps calling him hen house. I just keep calling him Rob...I am never ready to call a baby by their name...it takes me forever until I can.

The birth

I have been meaning to post about the details of the birth all week. But...hmm...I guess I have been busy doing other things. hahaa. My kids and husband are now at church, and baby is asleep so I guess now is the time.

We checked into the hospital at 7:30 a.m. Cali had spent the night in the hospital throwing up non stop. My mom was there with her until 5:00 a.m. Cali and I called each other throughout the morning she was super anxious for updates. She was so sick and still was totally hooked up to all of her medicines, by IV. Everyone that came into her room the whole day she just begged them to be ready to go by the time I had the baby.


I got all hooked up and ready to go. The doctor came in and broke my water at 8:50. YEOUCHHH that hurt. I forgot about that. Cortney almost passed out seeing me in pain. He turned green and had to sit down. It's funny because he can watch the birth no problem. He just doesn't like the painful parts...so once I get my epidural he is fine. Once my water was broken I was started on pitocin and we waited for the epidural man to come.

My epidural was awesome. The best I have had so far. After it was in place I was so relaxed and just snoozed on and off. I wasn't all the way asleep because I could feel when I was having a contraction but I was having weird dreams. Does that make sense?? Anyways at 12:38 my nurse, Sherry (who was also Cali's nurse the day she delivered...how awesome right??) came in and checked me and I was only at 5 cm's. I closed my eyes and 15 minutes later the nurse came in and said "your baby is talking (meaning the heart rate was going down)...lets see what's going on". She checked me and I was fully dilated. She actually said "oh hi baby" when she went to check. Is this gross??...oh well this is my only place to record what happened. It was crazy how fast I progressed. I called my mom and she drove over from my house (I live across the street from the hospital...it was very convenient). The nurse sent someone to get all of the doctors, and Cali and she told me to lay on my side and keep my legs closed. hahaa.

Once everyone was in the room I pushed through two contractions and the baby was out at 1:04 p.m. He did have his cord wrapped around his neck...scary. The nurse had told me earlier in the day she suspected his cord was wrapped around his neck by the way his heart was beating during a contraction. That stressed me out but I tried to stay calm. Turns out she was right and he came out much paler then my other kids. It took a second for him to cry but every was fine. I was so happy to see him healthy and all accounted for. I was really stressed about that part of it because I was on medications this pregnancy. I just didn't want that to have any effect on him.

Cali coming in...she has a barf bag in her hand. She barely made it 20 minutes the whole time she was in the hospital without throwing up. I was so happy to see her.

She has a jolly rancher in her cheek...that is what the bump is. This is right before I started pushing.

My mom tried like 20 times to get a picture of Cortney with the baby. This was the best of the bunch. Pathetic...no offense mom. Cortney's camera is hard to use...

So they handed the camera to me...remember I was being stitched up at this point. In fact the white blur on the side is my leg in the stirrup. At least it is in focus and the babies whole head is in the picture.

Baby Henry Ephraim Boice...6 lbs 4 oz 20 inches.
He is named after Cortney's great great grandfather Ephraim Hanks and my Great great great, Henry Sylvester Earl. Cortney's middle name is also Ephraim.

Someday we might call this little guy Hank. Especially if he is a big bully like Rob. hahaa.

Here is a horrible picture of my kids seeing the baby through the window. You can't really see what is going on but it is something I need to remember. My dad is in there with me (please excuse my hospital gown...at least I am holding it closed). hahaa

Grandma Jones seeing the baby for the first time. She gets so worried. I think having two granddaughters in the hospital at once just about put her over the edge with worry.

It really was the best delivery. So easy. My best so far, that is for sure. My parents watched my children while I was in the hospital and I am so grateful for them. That is a stressful thing having someone to watch your kids for you. I was alone in the hospital a lot and that was too lonely for me. Even just having Cali down the hall helped. I missed her so much once I was on my own. I am someone that likes having someone with them. I have always had someone...my whole life. I don't do alone really. I am glad to be back home. My kids are over the moon. I will post more later...but for now nap time.

i'm a little...emotional.

I don't know what it is about having a baby if it is all of the hormones...or the lack of sleep, or the hurt body, or having a puffy stomach, or not being pregnant anymore, or what but everytime I have a baby I get emotional for a couple of days after it is born.

Last time on the day when my mom left to back to washington I cried for 24 hours straight. I couldn't even explain why. I couldn't stop...but then I did I didn't cry another tear for 4 years. Yep...I haven't cried since Robbie was born. I am an ice queen...no tears here.

Then yesterday my neighbor yelled at me (I have a crazy old neighbor...he is usually really nice...but definitely crazy) because Cortney was taking too long to mow the lawn. I came inside after and started crying...yes crying. I couldn't believe it. I keep feeling sad and can't explain it. I miss Cali I haven't seen her since Wednesday.

It is funny to feel the same way every pregnancy. But it helps me laugh about it and know that any minute I will feel normal again.

twin cousins

It has been the funnest thing (well aside from all of Cali's throwing up and of course both of us having just gone through labor and delivery) having Cali here in the hospital with me. This morning I took my breakfast over to her room and was able to have someone to eat with rather then just sit here alone. Plus everyone loves us and thinks it is so awesome we are in here together. I love it. Cortney dropped by this morning on his way to work to take some pictures of the two babies. When we went to go find them they were in the nursery right next to each other....how cute is that??

We put them in baby Fiona's bucket and they cuddled right up to each other. I just know they are going to be great friends (and enemies at times).


I think it is pretty obvious which baby belongs to whom. Someone said as we were putting them in together, make sure you know which one is which...but there is no denying it. Plus baby Fiona's bow gives her away.

And his name shall be Henry!

So....Ash was induced this morning. We had to be at the hospital at 7:30. The kids are coming to check out Henry, so I will post the story later, but for now, here are some pics of the delivery.

Oh...by the way. He was born at 1:04 p.m. he weighs 6 lbs. 4 oz. 20 inches

I don't think he looks like either of our kids really. We will see though.

Typical

So...my last night. Of course you would think I am not going to get a good nights rest...that was certainly true.

First off I just took a long time to fall asleep...I was in bed early but didn't fall asleep for a long time. (understandable, I had a lot on my mind)

Second...ROB PEED the bed TWICE...last night. Thats after going a month without any accidents. How can someone pee twice in one night. It doesn't make any sense. It is like he was playing a cruel trick on me.

Third...there was a huge thunder/lighting storm last night. Every time I closed my eyes it would start up again.

All in all it was one of the worst nights I have had in a long time.

But the good news in in less then four hours I will have an epidural and be sleeping like a baby.

till then...

no kids allowed

I just found out from the hospital that no children are allowed to visit the hospital. Weird. It is because of the swine flu...and I totally get it, but having your kids visit you and the baby is one of the best parts. They can come look in my window they said and I can hold the baby up. Crazy.

our last saturday

First to start off, Cali and her kids, and my mom and dad came by for the day on Thursday. It is Cali's cleaning day that day so they get the house all clean and leave so it can stay that way. I love it when they come over.

My mom was so exhausted from Cali's cleaning day and then coming over and helping with projects at my house that we put her right to sleep. She loves to just listen to us talk and drift in and out of dreamland.

Cali at this point was on STRICT bed rest. The high blood pressure thing is sure scary. Usually you are on bed rest to make sure the baby doesn't come early but in her case it is for her sake...scary. But she is fine and she made it. She has the baby tomorrow.

Saturday we wanted to do something fun. We had no idea what to do so we kinda just drove around. I was in a semi bad mood....I think because I knew it was my last Saturday as a free woman I felt stressed to make it count. We stopped by krispy kreme donuts and I got a delish pumpkin one. Hmmm...that sounds so good right now. My kids love that place. And I had my little camera so I could take some pictures.

I look like I am in a bad mood.

It is impossible to get a good picture of all three at once.

We stopped by the fruit stand and bought a last box of fruit of the season. Then I thought I know I'll dry some fruit, the kids love dried fruit. Let me tell you what a waste. Two days of drying for a ziplock baggie of dried fruit. I could have saved myself a lot of time and bought a 4 dollar bag at walmart. Although the house does smell divine while it is drying.

Anyways while borrowing KaeLynn's dehydrator she said I should leave the kids there for an hour and go to lunch. I jumped right on that.

Cortney and I at Macaroni grill. It was really fun for just the two of us to go out.

We finished off the day watching the BYU game at Cali and Joe's and I made the best peach cobbler ever. It was a nice Saturday. Ohhh...plus I took a really good 2 hour nap. Which is about as good as it gets for a big pregnant lady. All in all it was a good day.

a blog post...what?

So, I am having a hard time coming up with something to write about. Life has been going by it seems like we do the same thing everyday.

Last week however my parents had a mission reunion for the lima Peru East Mission 1987-1990. It was crazy they had 70 some of their 107 American missionaries there. And with spouses and children we had about 300 people there. People love my parents...like really love them. I guess it shouldn't amaze me since, I love them but people came from Florida, Washington DC and New York City to spend 3 hours in a church chapel with them.

The night turned out great. I recognized tons of the missionaries...but I tell you what they didn't recognize me, I guess I look different then I did when I was 9 years old. hmmmm.

The pictures that I have for this post are horrible...but better then nothing.

My mom and dad talking to everyone.

The sisters (minus KaeLynn...she came later...and Sammy...we missed you). We all worked hard the whole time (you know refilling all the food and such, our husbands worked like crazy too). It was crazy, there were so many little kids running around. Cali and I had to be hall monitors to make sure little kids didn't bother a bishop there trying to give interviews. It wt as amazing, those kids didn't want to listen to us. Although...our kids were the loudest.

I have just been trying to get all my last minute errands done before the baby comes. Today Rob and I were out and about at lunch time and we decided to have a lunch date. We were right by Happy Sumo (which I love) and I decided to indulge myself a little and treat myself to food.

We had the best time...Rob was so cute. And thought it was so special. I just kept thinking that soon it won't be just me and him...but also baby. When you wait for so long to have another kid you can't help but be spoiled and get to do things you wouldn't usually get to do. (um does this make sense?)

Anyways, Rob loves Japanese (american) food.

So cute to see your kid eat a bowl full of Miso soup. He ate the whole thing even drinking the end. He was eating with chopsticks the whole time (even if it was just stabbing the food). I totally want spoons like these. So easy for kids to feed themselves with these things. I think I will search for some right now online.

Isn't he cute??

Tonight I made dinner and started having crazy pains, pregnancy pains of some sort. I have never gone into labor on my own and I always get an epidural right away so anytime anything happens I always wonder "is this it??". I feel fine now but only 6 more days. ( I really hope I make it...I don't want to go into labor on my own...I would love to have everything ready when the baby comes.)

Thats all...nothing exciting. But I thought posting is better then not posting.