Drake's Birth Story

December 18th.

My scheduled induction date.

My appointment was at 6:15 AM, and I was suppose to call at 5:45 AM to see if they had room. I almost broke down in tears when the nice lady on the phone said "Come on in!". 

We wanted to keep everything as normal as we could for the littles, and Savannah wanted to still go to school. So, I set out on my own to the hospital with a plan to call Paul when things were progressing. 

Everything was smooth sailin' at first. Got my IV, pitocin going, and my antibiotics for Strep B. Had some good contractions on my own, and the nurse and I made a prediction he would be here before Noon. 

The one thing I wanted more than anything this go around was Kim to be there to do one of her gorgeous birth stories. After all, this really is our last baby, like really! Paul thought I was slightly crazy, but said I could.

Kim showed up nice and early, and I was glad to have some girl chat to pass the time away.

Around 9:30 AM I decided to get an epidural. First try, he hit a blood vessel. Second try, I remember getting some relief, but it didn't feel like my past epidurals. With a promise to come back in a couple of hours, he left. 

After this all happened, Paul showed up. Things seemed to be going pretty smooth, that Noon delivery was looking pretty good. They were rolling in the baby gear to the room, and I could see an end in sight.

Then here is where things get blurry for me. I love that Kim was there to capture images of things I don't remember, or have already forgotten {Yes, pregnancy/mommy brain is alive and well in our house}.

I started feeling lots of pain, not just pressure. I hit that little epidural button, I got nothin'. I start to feel panicked as the pain brings me to tears.

It seems like this was sometime around 11:00 AM, but I couldn't even tell you. Paul and Kim were crackin' jokes, and doing a great job at trying to distract me.

Nurse checks me...I am only a 6, holy crap. I need relief.

I ask for the anesthesiologist to come and fix my epidural. He comes in, put medicine in my line to test it, and I instantly feel really sick. I couldn't hear very good {which is a normal side effect}, and thought I was going to pass out. I do remember Paul and Kim talking about me, but feeling like I wasn't able to respond. It was an odd experience. 

They decide to sit me up to do a 3rd epidural. Paul on one side, Kim on the other I sit and wait, and wait, and wait. 

Paul jokes "It is 11:59 AM Evonne, doesn't look like you are going to have him before Noon!"

I am going through contraction after contraction. I am feeling the urge to push, I warn the anesthesiologist he better hurry. No luck in hurrying or the 3rd epidural.

I lay back in the worst kind of pain. They tell me to breathe through the contractions, and don't push. 

I have to push, I can't wait.

Paul and Kim are whispering "Just push, Evonne!" Gosh those 2 are the best birth coaches ever!

No Doctor yet.

I push, and oh man did it feel oddly good.

Doctor appears, I don't care if she is ready...I am going to push again.

3 good pushes, and our baby boy was here.

12:12 PM. 

Drake Lydon Sell

8 pounds, 2 ounces

19 inches long

They put him on my stomach, and all I could think of is "I did it! I did it, Paul!" I just had a baby without drugs! 

Something about having a baby makes me fall in love with Paul all over again. These are situations he isn't comfortable in, and he is always a total rock star! He held my hand, talked me through it, and will always be my favorite person to have by my side. The pictures of Paul during all of it are the ones that bring me to tears. I am so lucky to have him, our kids are lucky to have him. 

I am so thankful Kim was there to support us. Not only is she such an awesome friend, she is so talented at capturing the best of the best moments with her camera. Paul teased me about how these pictures would look, and I was nervous I would look a hot mess. But I took one look at the album full of photos, and instantly fell in love with all of them. I will never regret having her there to capture our last baby, and how special the event was. 

When I first looked at Drake, I saw Savannah. Then I look at him again, I see Devin. Then Bina. I guess that just means all our kids look similar. One thing is for sure, we all fell in love with him hard and fast. He is the perfect ending to our little family.

halloween 2015

This year we invited friends to come and trick or treat in our neighborhood. Then they invited us to their house for hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls after we were done collecting our loot.

My kids could seriously could go trick or treating all night, even sweet Bina was game to keep going. What can I say, we love our treats.

Savannah decided to be a nerd this year, and matched with her cute friend Brooklyn. It is sad to see her years of trick or treating coming to an end. Maybe in a few years, she can be in charge of taking all the little people instead of me. Pass the torch, if you will.

Devin is always wanting something different to dress up as, and this year he chose a clown costume. You never see him in a costume that everyone else is wearing. He has yet to dress up as a Ninja Turtle, or something that is all the craze with kids his age.

Bina girl picked out a ballerina cat get up, and although kinda weird...she looked absolutely adorable!

These are the kind of holidays I just love having kids. They make everything so fun! 

basement.

As soon as we found out that we were having a baby, we knew we had to finish the basement. Although this is something we have wanted to do for a long time, it wasn't something we had planned for 2015. The task seemed overwhelming in every way...money, time, and planning it out. 

There were lots of stressful moments, but overall I think the entire project went fairly smoothly. A lot of the people we hired came recommended from friends, and our good friend Lydon helped out immensely! I don't know if there is a lot that we would change looking back, so I think that says something.

playroom/family room

Savannah's room

We wanted to be finished by the end of Summer, but missed our deadline. There were only a few weeks where all 3 kids were sharing one bedroom, and I think they secretly loved it. It was a big slumber party every night.

We love the finished product, and definitely think the fun paint jobs Christy and I did on the walls really added to the finished product! One day when all the decor is complete, I will have to come back and add some photos of it.  

just keep swimming.

Every year, except one, I have come up with an excuse to not put the kids in swimming lessons. This year I saw a childhood friend offering swimming lessons in her backyard, and I decided to jump on it...make no excuses. 

At first I wasn't going to sign Bina up, because she wasn't potty trained. With a mention of not being able to swim with Devin and Savannah, she quickly potty trained in a weekend. If I would have known that is all it would take I would have bribed her with swimming lessons earlier.

It was the perfect size classes, great teacher, the right time of day. It was so fun to watch Savannah and Devin really progress, and love going. Bina started off really strong, but in the end decided she didn't love "the big bathtub" every day.

We were sad when it was over, and was definitely a highlight to our Summer. 

Silver Lake Adventure.

Uncle Kyle moved from Idaho to a cute cabin super close to Silver Lake up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Even though we live by the mountains, it is rare we ever go up and explore. We were excited when Kyle invited us to come for a picnic, and scope out Silver Lake. 

It really isn't a hike, which was right up our alley. It is mostly flat, and some of it is even deck-like material you walk on.

It was a good amount of adventure for us, and definitely worth taking another trip up to explore. We got lucky on the day we went, and saw a moose out in the water. It was made for a pretty cool experience.

painting the nursery.

The room we have used for the nursery was in need of an update. Devin and Bina have both used the same room, and we wanted to change it up for Drake. 

I wanted to do more than just an accent wall, but I wasn't sure I was up for the task. I honestly can't remember how it happened, but my friend Christy offered to help me paint and the rest was history.

Christy is a pro painter, and it made trying something new not so scary. Christy found some ideas on Pinterest, and we ran with it. 

It was so fun to do this project with her, and we made a good team. Paul took care of Bina, took Devin to school, brought us home lunch...all while we painted and chit-chatted. I love how it turned out, and find myself dreaming of when I have a reason to spend more time in the room.

starting somewhere.

post edit: I went back and filled in some of the gaps. Slowly but surely this blog might make a come back, just in time for 2016 Summer adventure a days!

Where do you even start when you haven't blogged since June? Truth, I have no idea. 

I decided to just start somewhere, even if that means that things will be out of sequence. I will forget these memories all together if I don't start somewhere.

***

This post is going to be about our newest baby. A boy. Due Christmas Day, 2015. 

{25 weeks}

His name will be Drake, and our first baby that I have given a name to. I have never really cared what our babies names were, just that I had the opportunity to have them. Then this boy came along, and I did a fair amount of begging for his name to be Drake.

Just because he is our 4th, it hasn't diminished my excitement. I still can't wait to meet him, snuggle, and soak him up. 

This has been my easiest pregnancy, and I secretly hope that means he will be my easy baby. Fat chance, I know. We have most everything ready for his arrival, which is some sort of record for us. 

There was a time in my life when I wasn't sure we would have a family, and I said I would be happy with just one baby. Now we will be a family of 6, and I feel like someone should pinch me...I am so thankful for these little people who I get to be a Mommy to. Such a dream come true.

5th grader.

Savannah was a little nervous about starting the 5th grade. Her very best friend ended up in another class, and they have been inseparable. She did end up getting the teacher she really wanted, so that was a little bit of positive for her.

Savannah is a smart young lady, and makes friends no matter what her situation is. She looks forward to learning, and is responsible with homework. I feel really thankful that I have been so lucky this first time around with a child I never have to worry about.

Every year we take the same picture of Devin with Savannah. This year Bina wanted in on the fun. Clearly Savannah doesn't think it is as cute or fun anything...which makes this picture all the more priceless.
 
I am sure 5th grade will take some adjusting, but I am also sure she will absolutely slay it! Can't wait to see how much she excels and learns. 

Kindergartener.

Devin wasn't excited to start Kindergarten, and I am not gonna lie...I wasn't thrilled about the change either. It was a lot easier to send Savannah off to school at this age, because she was ready and wanted it.

Devin sometimes has a hard time warming up to people. He is still taking and needing naps, and we of course got the afternoon block...making it impossible for him to have one now. 

I cried for most of his first day. 

Devin is quirky and can be hard. I hope and pray his teacher will fall in love with him like we do. I hope he thrives, learns, and decides to love it.

There is still a lot of wanting to stay home, and coming home to crash after a huge meltdown.

It would be easy to let him stay secure under my wing, but I know we can conquer big things...and this is just the first of them for us.

vegas baby.

Long before we knew we were having another baby, we planned our very first trip for just Paul and I. It was clearly long overdue, and we weren't about to cancel it because of pregnancy. We did have to change a couple of things we had planned to do, but we still had a long list of things to see!

We had never been to Las Vegas, and we had no idea what to expect. We stayed at the Stratosphere Hotel, and though it was nice, I would pick something different next time. It is a bit too far off of the strip for us, we wanted to be in on all the action.

The first night we were there we stayed around the hotel, which by the end of the trip we regretted wasting that time. We enjoyed going up to the observation deck for free being a guest, and the view was amazing. Paul is scared of heights, so he stayed clear of the edge. We also went to dinner at Roxy's Diner, which was less than desirable food. We people watched, walked around, and were more than excited to spend quality time just the 2 of us.

The next morning we started the day off right with Serendipity 3 for breakfast. Chicken and waffles, that is all I gotta say. Man, I still have dreams about that meal. We learned that portions are HUGE in Vegas, so we ended up sharing all of our meals. 

Our agenda this day was go to the top of the Paris Eiffel Tower, Mob Museum, bus tour at night.

We ended our night with good music, great people watching, and delicious food at Jimmy Buffet's restaurant.

We started this day off with Guy Fieri's restaurant. This little number was a pancake pot pie, filled with delicious berries. Yet another thing we shared.

Our agenda this day was Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, gondola ride, Michael Jackson ONE Cirque du Soleil show.

Right before we were to go in to the Michael Jackson show, I had a colossal win on the slot machines. I always knew Michael was my favorite. Then we went and took our seats in the nosebleed $100+ per person seats, and some nice lady came and told us to follow her. We were hesitant, but she took us all the way to the 17th row and gave us new seats!! It made for a pretty lucky night!

We walked until our feet couldn't take it anymore. We hit up the M&M store, Coke store, rode the monorail, we shopped, ate delicious food in between. 

For our first time in Vegas, we definitely saw a lot. We went to bed every night exhausted, and woke up ready to hit up the strip to see more things.

We couldn't leave Vegas without more Serendipity 3...hello frozen hot chocolate! 

I loved this trip so much. It was nice to reconnect with Paul, and remember all the things I love so much about it. We went home dreaming of our next trip to Vegas, and all the shows and things we didn't get to conquer. Definitely a trip to remember.