Rolling over

Jennifer rolled over FOUR times yesterday! WHAT? She is only 2 1/2 weeks old! My other kids were months old before they rolled over. And of course, the battery on our camera is dead and we haven't been able to find the recharger. We were trying to get some good quality tummy time in with her, and she just refused to stay on her stomach. Zac started yelling for me, and I ran in the room just in time to see her roll over for the first time. Then she did it again, and again, and again. What a strong little girl!

Eric had his first day of school yesterday, and again, no battery for the camera. We think Eric hid the recharger, he tends to hide anything that has a plug. My neighbor took a picture of him at school, when she e-mails it I will post it. He had an amazing first day. He absolutely loved it. The next part is for journal reasons...Sunday night Zac gave Eric a father's blessing for the school year. In the blessing he blessed that the kids would be nice to Eric, etc. When I went and picked him up from school the first thing he said to me was, "Mom! It worked! Dad's blessing worked! Everyone was SO NICE!" He seemed to grow up over those hours while at kindergarten. When we were going to kindergarten he held my hand the entire way there. When I picked him up, he almost ran the entire way home, extremely excited to do his homework, and ready for the next day.

2 week fiasco

We had Jennifer's 2 week check-up. She is weighing in at 8 lb 3 oz and 21 inches long. She is in the 75% for her length and 50% for her weight. With both Eric and Aubrey I had their pictures taken when they were 2 weeks old. So I decided to carry on the tradition and have Jennifer's picture taken. Wow. It was quite the ordeal to get this pictures taken! We had to wait at Kiddie Kandids for 3 1/2 hours! I'm glad I did the pictures with the kids first since Jennifer was still asleep, but she was NOT having it for her picture! The picture that we got was literally in between crys! I could not get her to calm down. She refused to nurse, refused to take the binky, refused everything! During the pictures Aubrey goes, "Uh-oh, pee is starting to come out!" So I had to hurry and RUN her to the bathroom with Jennifer and Eric, but Aubrey wanted help to get ON the toilet (which was disgusting), but I couldn't help her because I had screaming Jennifer in my arms. She climbed on, went to the bathroom, got her hands VERY clean, then ran back to finish taking pictures. THEN Eric had to go to the bathroom! Are you kidding me? Apparently he didn't think about it when we were IN the bathroom with Aubrey. So we ran back to the bathroom, etc. Finally, I just told the lady taking Jennifer's picture that we were lucky we got the pic that we did, I just needed to get home. At one point in this, I had ALL three kids crying. Oh my. A little discouraging! Things would have been fine if we didn't have the long wait to even take the picture in the first place. I felt like everyone was staring at me as I was leaving the mall. I had Jennifer screaming in her car seat in one hand, Aubrey crying in the other hand while holding Eric's hand who was also crying. It may be awhile before I venture out on my own again. However, I did do a successful grocery shopping trip Monday night with all three kids by myself and it went smooth. Today they just weren't having it.

One week old

I can't believe she is already 1 1/2 weeks old! It has been a busy week! Jennifer has had jaundice, so I have had to go to the hospital every day for the past week to get her levels rechecked. Her points are now starting to go down, but luckily we never had to admit her in the hospital, although the doctor threatened it every day. I have been sick as well. I got a sinus infection right when I got out of the hospital, but didn't get the antibiotics until Wednesday. Then yesterday, I got mastitis. My fever was at 104.5 pretty much all day yesterday, with really bad chills. BUT, because I was already on antibiotics for my sinus infection, I already had a head start on getting better. Today I have a low grade fever, but I am feeling a lot better. It's hard to get better without any rest! :) The hard part about yesterday was that Zac had rented a drill for the cement from Home Depot, and my fever and chills didn't kick in until he was gone. So I called him because I was shaking so bad, I was afraid to hold Jennifer to change her diaper. He came back, but because we already paid for the rental, he had to get the holes drilled which took HOURS, so I was really sick and had to take care of the 3 kids. Miserable day. Days like this make me wish I had my mom to help me. It's hard to not have her here when pretty much everyone who has a new baby has their mom's to help them out. I know Steph can relate to this.

On Thursday Eric had his open house for kindergarten. We got to meet his new teacher, and find out where his locker is, coat hanger, bathrooms, etc. He is so excited. They already had homework for him too. We go take an assessment on Thursday to see where he stands education wise. We had to take some pictures for his homework so I have included some of those pics (the one of the family and himself).

I absolutely cannot STAND cat hair. So Zac and Barb got creative shaving Buster, with a mohawk and chops and all. Zac wanted me to post a picture of their creative work. AND Aubrey felt left out, so I have included a pic of her as well. She keeps on picking flowers everywhere she goes, and today, my Dad's yard was her pick. So she wanted her picture taken with the rose that she picked. She hasn't been pricked by a thorn yet, so hopefully it happens soon so she will stop picking flowers!

Day one and Smiling

Introducing...

Jennifer Kristine Nielson! She arrived last night at 9:01 p.m., and was 7 lbs 11 oz, 18 1/2 inches. I was suppose to start my induction at 8am yesterday, but they could not get me in until 10 am. They started the pitocin immediately, and I started to have contractions 2 minutes apart right away. The doctor couldn't come in to break my water until 12:45, and by this point, I was still only dialated to 2 cm. After he broke my water, the contractions started hitting really hard every 30 seconds. I lasted for 2 hours with the hard contractions, then finally called in the anethesiologist for my epidural. They checked me again at 6 pm, and I was only at 2 1/2 cm! How frustrating! I had a new nurse come in around 8:30 p.m. and she said I was finally at 4 1/2 cm. I guess the nurse that put my catheter in put it in the way of the babies head, so she couldn't come down. So this nurse moved it to the right spot, and I immediately felt major pressure. After 15 minutes I couldn't handle it and had Zac page the nurse and I was ready to go! The doctor ran over and I only had to push once and she came! This time around I didn't need any stitches or anything, and already recovery has been so much better! She is nursing beautifully, and so far doesn't even really cry. (I know that by this point she has only been here for 13 hours, but, I am VERY hopeful!) We are just excited to have our new little girl finally here! Aubrey and Eric were so cute when they saw her. Aubrey couldn't stop laughing she was so excited! A big thank you to Dad for letting the kids spend the night TWICE even though we had only planned on ONCE! The kids had a wonderful time!

Derby night

Zac and I got called as the ward activities chair people. So we had to get an activity together really quick. We ended up doing a potato derby on Friday (which was also my birthday). We had to have the activity quick since our new arrival is coming on Thursday. Zac has won the derby every year that he has participated. But not this year. He spent well over an hour on his potato car, and Aubrey kept on asking for one. He slapped one together in two minutes and handed it to her. Aubrey took FIRST PLACE! She was so excited! Zac had even made a trophy for the winner, so Aubrey got to take home the trophy. Eric wasn't so happy. He REALLY wanted to win bad! As we were getting in the car to go home, I told Aubrey to sit next to Eric. He goes, "Come on Aubrey, come sit next to the LOSER." I have no idea when he became so competitive!

During the potato derby, I started having contractions every couple of minutes the entire night. I was pretty excited. After we cleaned up the cultural hall, we went home, I took a shower, and laid on the bed waiting for Zac to finish his shower. Almost immediately the contractions stopped. DANG IT! At least we didn't actually make it to the hospital...that would have been a little embarrassing. I'm a little jealous that Brett and Rachel on their FIRST baby went early! I keep on telling myself that Thursday is not very far away...I am just SO UNCOMFORTABLE! I would think that by my 3rd I wouldn't have to be induced. But there is an upside to this, I am able to plan up to the day. My last day of work is Wednesday, and the kids are way excited to sleep at my Dad's house that night. Eric is able to bring in treats to daycare to tell his friends goodbye; we can get Eric's kindergarten registration finished; I'm able to get all my ducks in a row at work with timecards, etc; and we can still work on picking a name for this girl!

Zac is under the impression that his two-week "paternity leave" is to get projects done around the house. So he decided he is going to build the deck during this time. We will see. I'm not too enthusiastic about his plans. That's about it for me...just the waiting game.