"Doin' What Comes Natcher'ly!"

Cam and I arrived in Cedar City at 11:30pm on February 16. We spent the night at Beckie's (Cam's cousin) and woke up at 3:45am, and after Cam gave me a blessing, we were at the hospital by 4:30am. To my dismay, I was only at a 1 when we arrived.

By 5:00, Pitocin was pumping through my system and papers were signed. All we had to do was wait. Every 30 minutes, the Pitocin was upped a bit, and at 7:00, Dr. Newman broke my water. I was barely dilated to a 2.

When the contractions didn't come immediately, I was rather worried. How was this delivery gonna go? With my boys, I had needed the epidural immediately after the water breakage, and their deliveries had been quick. Was this going to be drawn out?

At some point, we switched rooms because of a broken bathroom light, and it was then that I decided to stay out of the bed. I discovered that I liked walking in place or side to side through each contraction, thinking of all the Jessica Smith TV walking workouts I had done throughout the pregnancy (haha). The contractions steadily increased in power and I walked and breathed deeply through each one, and then collapsed on the bed and leaned against Cam to close my eyes and rest until the next one.

"When the nurse comes back in, I'll get the epidural," I thought. It took only one more contraction for me to be like, "Okay, I'm calling them."

At 9:15ish, and dilated to a 3, that welcome relief was administered and I tried to get used to sitting still through each contraction. How in the world had I stayed in the bed with my other three? 

The pain disappeared from my abdomen, and settled in my rear end and the backs of my legs. And it was SO much worse than before. What the heck was happening?! After a few minutes of crying through my breaths, we decided to try the epidural again. Obviously, it just wasn't working.

Because I couldn't even sit up, they rolled me onto my side. In seconds, the "urge to push" overwhelmed me and I yelled my newfound need to the room. As a fierce sting flared "down there" a realization came as well: I was gonna have this baby naturally! (No wonder the epidural hadn't worked. I had gone from a 3 to a 10 in about 25 minutes!)

Another contraction kept my cries a comin' and I was informed that Dr. Newman wasn't here yet and to do "mini pushes" until he came. Three more contractions and he appeared.

The moment he entered the room, I decided that this was going to be my last contraction. The pressure was too great. Baby Girl had to come out. Three pushes through that one contraction, and out she came. It was 9:54am. And let me tell you, there is nothing like that pressure suddenly vanishing. What relief!!! To quote someone dear to me--and anyone who's had a child naturally can attest: "It is like the best bowel movement ever!" :D

The 7 lbs. 6 oz. girl was 19 inches long, our tiniest kid yet! It was so hard for me to handle her for how tiny she was. Of course, I had forgotten how small a newborn was anyway. But, whew! I am grateful she wasn't as big as any of her brothers! 

And let me just say that I would do a natural birth again in a heartbeat. Recovery was a breeze! Of course, that's out of the moment. During the process, aren't we all thinking, "As soon as I get to the hospital next time, I'm getting the epidural!"

Her brothers were all over her when we got home, each one wanting to hold her first, all of them wanting to touch her feet, her head, her hands. She has three of the best protectors, that's for sure. 

Make that four. Daddy is head over heels for her already.

MYA JEAN HENRIE

7 LBS. 6 OZ. 19 IN.

FEBRUARY 17, 2017 

 

2016... What a Year!

Wow. Sorry 'bout that. Didn't blog at ALL in 2016. Okay, there was one post about my birthday, but my birthday is in JANUARY. So, 2016 didn't get any social media glory whatsoever. And believe me when I say it was quite the year.

I learned a lot about... about... about how much control I really have over my life. Before 2016, I felt that everything clicked nicely into place for me. I struggled with things and learned a little bit about trusting my Savior, but I learned a lot more about trust in 2016. (I still have a lot more to learn, too.)

In March, I had a bone spur removed so I could run and not feel like my ankle was being hacked off with a handsaw. The recovery was slower than I would have liked it to be, and a year later I'm BARELY beginning to think that MAYBE I can start running soon.

Also in March, Cam interviewed for a teaching job in his home town of Panguitch, Utah, was offered the position, and accepted. In July, we left our Enoch home and moved into his parents' basement. Those few moths of praying and discussing and praying and crying (on my part) were... um... Did I mention I cried? A lot?

In June we found out we were expecting, and I figured that with all the loops God had thrown me for and what I'd learned about control, I "knew" our baby would be a girl. (Keep in mind, I was totally in love with my boys and being that "boy mom".) Sure enough, in September, we found out our little peanut was a girl.

Okay, am I just a spoiled, rotten brat or what? Seeing all of this in one spot and not spread over the pages of my journal makes me realize that, wow, I had a lot to learn. Read this and judge me and know that I. Am. Spoiled. I deserved a little growth spurt.

Anyway, now we live in Cam's parents' basement and are waiting for a digger to put a hole in the ground where our house will stand one day. We've been saying, "Any day now," since October.

But, God's timing is the BEST timing and I'm still learning what that means. A bone spur removal, in a way, forced my pregnancy to be a healthy one--since I couldn't run, I had to focus more on what I ate, and was introduced to exercises that helped me through labor.

Moving to Panguitch opened up more opportunities for my family and me. Physically and spiritually.

And having a girl... having little Mya. What a special spirit.

So, here's to being thankful IN all things and continuing to learn and stretch and grow. Grow closer to my Savior.

Holi- and Birth-days

Let's all play catch up. Now, don't we like that?

Christmas and birthdays and fun with a hat.

Birthday shopping, and trying on everything that I wouldn't get.
Oh, and can you see my Ninja Turtle shirt? From the boys. They were super excited about it!

Christmas was Christmas; 'twas filled with such fun!

We love movies and candy and family a ton!

Family photo shoot in the Panguitch wind and winter. Frozen facials.

Stockton and Mommy versus Daddy and Parker in gingerbread house making. 

Of course our favorite part is eating the candy.

Road trip to Washington, 30 hours in a car!

The boys did so great even though it was far.

Presents included a table and chairs

from Grandparents Henrie--they love that it's theirs!

Deacon (especially) loves to sit at the table with his older brothers. All three love that it is just their size.

In one of my absences, don't recall which one,

Cam repainted the cupboards. Just for fun.

From brown wood to white with a decorative glaze,

it makes our kitchen look taller in this little place.

And on to my birthday! (Though I'm sure there is more.

Just slap pics on the page! That's what catch up is for!)

Pictures and pictures are what's coming next.

Pictures and pictures with maybe some text.

After a weekend of family fun

(our nephew was blessed, little Isaac Benson),

they took me to lunch where we laughed as we ate,

and then it was home. Oh, the weekend was great.

We put boys to bed and sat down to unwind

when MY SISTER walked in not far behind!

Did I know she was coming? Most certainly not!

But I was ecstatic with her and Cam's plot!

Next day I was told to meet Cam and have lunch

at Pastry Pub where we both sat and we munched.

And then after school, Cam came through the door,

and said, "Now go shopping! Here's some money. Here's more!"

So Kenna and I had some fun in the shops;

we tried on some things that were "Yes!" or "Sure not"s.

But we had to get home. And I didn't know why.

I should've caught on that ol' Cam was bein' sly.

I walked through the door and was greeted by smiles

from people I'd seen, and some not in awhile!

And cupcakes and ice cream were set on the table

and people came and ate as much as they were able.

Braden and Nicole are known for making and being our Muddy Buddies...

The talking! The laughter! The fun at that time

made me think my family and friends are sublime.

 And one last little thing to add 'cause I can.

Let's pour over pics of THIS little man...

He's finally decided that walking is easier than crawling if you want to play superheroes with the brothers.

Thank you, EVERYONE, for the birthday treats that were brought to my door, for the texts, for the phone calls, for the Facebook posts, for the gifts, and for being such great friends and family.

Thank you, Kenna, for making the drive to come make my birthday awesome. It was so much fun dubsmashing with you, shopping with you, and laughing with you! I love you!

The man behind the magic.
Thank you, Cam, for lunch, dinner, cake, inviting friends and family, the gifts, your hard work, and the surprises. I love you so much!

I love you, Cam! Thank you for making my birthday--and every day--so special.

Cowabunga, Dudes!

This year's Halloween costumes and festivities found their way to the top of my "Favorites" list. My sister, McKenna, spent the weekend with us, and had some fun with our faces in celebration of the holiday. One thing we've wanted to do for awhile is film and post a mock makeup tutorial, which we did. But it wasn't the tutorial that went out for the world to see (at least not yet). It's Parker's reaction to the tutorial. Check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsv6ZfbETk0

I've learned since having children that I'm a huge fan of Halloween. I love, love, LOVE dressing up. Oh, and getting candy. Lots of candy. I'm a huge fan of seeing how cheap I can make their costumes. That being said, D.I. becomes our favorite store, the scrap fabric box at JoAnn and WalMart are frequently visited, and the cardboard boxes we have saved up for years suddenly disappear. I'm also a huge fan of family costumes (it'll be a sad day when my sons want to be something completely opposite of each other, and I won't know how to tie them together to make the whole family connect).
This year, Parker and Stockton wanted to be Ninja Turtles.This is how we do it... (insert song here).

We tried to dye some wig caps green by letting them soak in food coloring overnight. Worked well enough, I suppose. The boys looked bald and green. Thanks to Kenna, their faces and necks were green and sported masks.

D.I. and WalMart clearance racks made the boys green from shoulders to ankles. Oh, and a friend's green footie pajamas for Deacon. And a Hulk costume Kenna had given Parker for his birthday. Scrap fabric was used for all their ties on their knees and elbows. More scrap fabric for their belts, and cardboard circles with their letters painted on them for their symbols.

When making the shells, we performed our own version of a tutorial Cam found. We cut out an oval and glued some hexagons and other shapes onto it. After painting them tan, we painted the spaces between the hexagons dark brown. And then came the fun part. Using a dry brush technique (I know I sound all cool here, but I had to look it up on YouTube), we painted the shells dark brown, dark green, and highlighted it with a bit of yellow. The chest plates share the same story minus the green paint. A layer of lacquer completed them. As a side note, we painted our living room brown and green three years ago so we had a ton of green and brown paints to choose from when painting the shells.

Cam also made his swords and a pair of nunchucks out of cardboard. After spraying them with lacquer, they looked like plastic toys! He went above and beyond with everything he touched. Good job, honey! And thank you!

As April O'Neill, we found a wig at Smith's for under $5 and the jacket was a D.I. find for $2. Again, thanks to Kenna who did my makeup. Love!

Kenna decided to complete our little ensemble by being a turtle-beat-up bad guy.We had a good laugh of how similar she looked to our youngest brother, who always seems to be so happy in pictures. Haha.

Kenna's transformation was a bit confusing for Stockton, who kept asking, "Did the other Kenna leave already?" He said he knew that this boy was Kenna, but the other one, the one with red hair, the GIRL Kenna, had somehow disappeared. 

Cam as Leonardo

Parker as Rafael

Stockton as Donatello

Deacon as Michelangelo

Me as April O'Neil

Parker and Stockton were so excited to be "real" Ninja Turtles. Parker... a little more than Stockton.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

And the Turtles with their bad guy! 

It's Mikey that loves April to death, right? As in, never wants to leave her side? Is very concerned when around anyone else but his Turtle family? Yeah, the character is played flawlessly.

Raf and Donny waiting for candy. After trick-or-treating, dinner was waiting for them. What do Ninja Turtles love to eat? Yes, we had PIZZA when we got home!

Braden and Nicole  (my brother and his wife) came later that night to chow down on Muddy Buddies, pumpkin pie, dirt cups, and pizza, and watch Frequency. The only... uh... "scary" movie we could find. Or all agree on. When it comes to Halloween horror, we don't mess around! Ahem...

I must give a shout out to my seester! She brought the party, man! She's brilliant in her makeup design and so kind in everything she does. Thank you, Kenna, for coming to visit us and for making Halloween so fun!

 Okay, maybe a little too much fun...?

"Remember, nothing is as strong as family." 

--Master Splinter