Right Now

Right now I am updating my blog (obviously.)
Marianne is laying on the couch - her "playtime" in between feedings where she looks around, hiccups, poops, and gets kissed lots by me. Isn't she an adorable duckie?

Beau is on his couch watching Toy Story, just like he has every other afternoon for the last two weeks.

He just finished eating a chocolate chip cookie, one of the diminishing few that have been sitting on the counter looking irresistible all morning. These aren't going to make it much longer...

Outside the clouds have rolled in and it feels like a storm is coming in. (Out my back door...power lines and  a lonely table and overgrown brush give it a quaint abandoned feel, don't you think?)

My home is nice and cozy and dark. Here is my kitchen, as is. Half messy, half clean.

Today I had a moment that felt supremely empowering. I took Marianne in for a little check up to make sure she was gaining weight. It is a new doctor's office for us and maybe they didn't realize that they were on trial. I waited with Beau and Marianne in our little room for a half hour without anyone coming to talk to us. (The previous two visits have been similar.) The receptionist took us to our room and that was that. Not even a nurse came to talk to us. So I took Marianne to the scale outside our room, weighed her (8 lbs 13 oz with her clothes on), and then walked to the front and asked for the form to transfer my records somewhere else. Just then the C.N.P. that was going to see us came out and said, "Well I can see you now," and I said sorry, I don't want to do this for the next year. She asked if she could at least weigh her and I said that I already had. And then I smiled, thanked her, and left.
Totally empowering. It's not that they were horrible, they just weren't great. And I want (and can have) great.
And now...Marianne is hungry (she might just eat herself)...gotta go relax with my girl. :)

My Job

Beau playing trains with Marianne. He loves to hold her.

"Think about your particular assignment at this time in your life. It may be to get an education, it may be to rear children in righteousness, it may be to be a grandparent, it may be to care for and relieve the suffering of someone you love, it may be to do a job in the most excellent way possible, it may be to support someone who has a difficult assignment of their own. Our assignments are varied and they change from time to time. Don't take them lightly. Give them your full heart and energy. Do them with enthusiasm. Do whatever you have to do this week with your whole heart and soul. To do less than this will leave you with an empty feeling."

- Marjorie Pay Hinckley

I read this quote on Sunday and loved it. I have really been grateful for the realization that this time with a new baby is just a moment in eternity and I need to savor it and enjoy it (and in the case of breastfeeding, endure it graciously until it doesn't hurt). I don't have to feel responsible to anyone but my own family right now, I don't have to be doing a million projects, I don't have to commit to anything. It's a very liberating feeling! 

My particular assignments right now? 

Feed Marianne. 

Play with Beau. 

Talk with Bekah and Jacob about anything they want. 

Kiss Rus.

Clean every now and then...:)

And now...Some fun things going on:

Marianne went to school for show and tell this week, to Bekah and Jacob's classes. They all oohed and aahed over her little hands and feet and all her hair...my favorite question came from a girl in Jacob's class: "What do you do with her all day?" 

We rented our house out in Los Lunas, Hooray!! It has taken about a month and a half but we feel really good about our renters...if only they didn't want the kids' bedrooms painted white (they don't have kids)...
 
 Marianne loves to have her hands in her face. She also loves to suck on anything that strays by her mouth. Here she is sucking on her thumb and enjoying her hands...Cracks me up!

Working the Camera

On Friday (after a long baby-filled, sleep-deprived night), I was perfectly content to have a slow, schedule-less morning. Rus was occupied tiling the laundry room and had enlisted an eager Beau to help him. Here are some before and after pics of his handiwork - done in two days. My man is amazing!

 



While Rus was working, my mom and I gave Marianne a bath and my mom rubbed her down with lotion and then we dressed her in one of my favorite outfits. She was just too adorable...we had to bust out the camera and do a little photo shoot. *Ah...sigh* I just love baby girl things like the abundance of the color pink and big flowery headbands.
Here is the most beautiful baby in the world: (I can claim that - so can you about yours)
I think her eyes look blue here...and her hand looks sort of purple...hmmm



This picture was actually taken today while she napped in the sun. She's looking a little yellow and today is the first day we've had sunlight to put her in. Jacob calls her Bug and she really looks like one in this picture.
















Marianne has this wonderful awake time during the day where she is perfectly content to just lay there and look around. She squirms and wiggles and sucks intermittently on her fingers, or she lays perfectly still and just looks around. It is incredibly fun to watch her, especially when she makes funny faces. She only falls shy of perfection in that she is really hard to get to settle down at night and so I wind up getting only four or five hours of sleep (and that's with Rus letting me sleep in while he gets the kids ready for school). But where the nights fall short, the days have been really nice and relaxed and that is a blessing.
I hope you're not getting sick of baby posts yet...I'm sure there are more to come!

Welcome Baby

Tuesday morning (Sept. 6th), Rus and I headed to the hospital for my "6am time to be induced" appointment. I was hooked up to pitocin by 7am, my water broke at 1pm, and the epidural came thankfully at 2:40 with just enough time to kick in before baby girl was born at 3:17. I was elated that she arrived before 4pm - I knew the kids would be so excited to hear that their sister was here already, and I was happy that this baby was born with daylight outside (Bekah, Jacob and Beau all came at night). It was really nice to not be in labor all day. And honestly it was my best labor experience - she might not have shown up on her own like I wanted, but she came perfectly.
So here is all the info you really wanted:

Marianne Payne

7lbs 11oz. 20" long

The kids, so happy to meet their sister. They wanted to name her Flower. Jacob really doesn't like the name Marianne (which is incidentally after my grandma Mary Anne Hansen - we changed the spelling because she says she always gets called Mary. She approved of our spelling. :) We reached a compromise when we told the kids they could call her whatever they want but her name is Marianne. Jacob calls her Bug.

Beau couldn't stop saying, "She's so cute!"

Here is a shot of the girls.

And the girls with Cutesy. Do I look a little tired? Oh, right, I just had a baby...

Marianne had as much hair as Beau did...and received a mohawk from the nurses just like he did...but with cute bows because girls like that.

Rus and his girl. I have to say that Marianne is such a mellow baby. She will eat and then just lay there awake, looking around (or watching tv with Rus). She is really calm and pleasant with a sweetness about her that is incredibly kiss- and snuggle-able

Beau has been a great helper - here he is throwing away her baby diapers.

I love her fingernails. They are like my sister Amy's. So feminine...

So there you have it...I am really enjoying this baby girl! Recovery has already been so much better than with Beau (because he was a big-headed monster-sized baby) and Rus and my mom have been wonderful and thoughtful helpers. The kids are eager to help, and the ward and neighbors are supplying us with absurd amounts of food.All is well.I feel blessed!

How I Do 41 Weeks.

Just put my red shoes on, steal Mom's earrings, find my best dress, and pretend I don't mind being pregnant.
A good hair day doesn't hurt anything.

Thoughts of an Overdue Mother

So have I told you how much I want this baby to come by herself? I REALLY, really want her to pick her own day so I don't have to be induced. I know Heavenly Father knows this, so I've decided that these last few days before she makes her appearance must just be a gift - more sleep, time to do projects, time to play with Beau one on one, time to "get in shape" walking up and down these hills that I live in now. Here is a little of what we have been up to this week:
On Wednesday I found a picture online that I wanted for my bathroom. It was $167. I went to Hobby Lobby, bought a 24"x30"canvas for $13 and painted my own picture. It was really fun to paint - relaxing and fun. And it turned out well enough to hang in my little powder room by the kitchen.



I decided to hang these poppies in the hallway by my kitchen. 

My mom had the fantastic idea to put a shelf above the windows in my kitchen. She even spied a piece of barnwood that was in our garage that fills the space perfectly. Anyone that knows my mom can spy that this was her work because look on the right bracket - the tag is still there! :)

Did I mention that we have been walking. Alot. And that I live on the side of a beautiful mountain now, so everything is uphill? This picture is from this morning - Beau was hunting for a rabbit that was hiding in that bush. Rabbits are had in abundance here and they never cease to entertain Beau.
Beau has turned into quite the hiker. Yesterday he refused the stroller, not even letting us take it as a back up. He walked and ran for ever! Watching him run makes me super happy - he has miracle feet! This hill he's running up is nothing to laugh at either. We found a really fun gem - at the end of this road is a trail that goes back into the canyon.
Today Beau was not really into hiking a lot. Here he was - "Carry me, Cutesy!"

I told Beau to go look for a rabbit and this was the face he gave me - "You talkin' crazy woman."

Cutesy and Beau running...

On Tuesday we cleaned bathrooms. Beau cleaned every mirror in every bathroom. He was a terrific helper.

And tomorrow I have an appointment with my doctor. She'll do a stress test on the baby to make sure that she's holding up well. She told me that she could possibly induce me as well if it wasn't too busy, but I think I'm going to hold off a little longer. I just have to steel myself for going to church on Sunday, still pregnant, and hearing, "Your still here!" a million times. I think I can do it...I hope I don't have to!Anyway, today and the last couple of days really have been a gift and I am grateful for ways I've been able to fill up the time. Now some other thoughts/goings-on...Babies can come anytime, right? For some reason I have it in my head that they come early in the morning or at night, and anytime in between is "safe." (Bekah 9pm, Jacob 9pm, Beau 2am) We'll see.Bekah is excited about this baby. Every time she leaves for school or goes to bed she tells me to leave her a note on her door if I go to the hospital to have the baby. She has tape on her desk...I know this because she has told me a million times. She is having a hard time waiting.Jacob really really wants a new Transformer. It might possibly kill him that I won't buy one for him and that he has to save up his own money. This is hard because 1. he gets money by doing his chores and 2. doing chores makes him whine and cry and then he doesn't get any money. Life is rough.I have random people calling me and ringing my doorbell wondering if I have had the baby. The latest was this morning - Alice, an older lady from my ward who walks my street everyday (that I barely know) stopped by. She saw me answer the door and just said, "Oh well, your still here. I was just checking." I love all the attention, really. I would also love for me to not be available because I was entertaining a newborn. You can still feel free to text, call or stop by. But stop by with a treat because then I know it's all really about me. I like cookies, all kinds. ;)Rus tells me everyday to call him when I go in to labor. "Keri, I have a really boring meeting today at one. It lasts for two hours." hint, hint. Sorry not to oblige, hon.