baby samiyah is born

i know it's been a while...and i have been so behind on my blogging. but here is the baby post...finally! the nice thing about scheduled c-sections is all the advanced planning you can do. we planned the c-section for the day makayah had preschool, and the time when BOTH children would already be in school. so we dropped off our kiddos, packed up some last minute things, tidied up the house, and drove to the hospital around 10am. i am always so nervous. i know the drill, but i still get so nervous, especially at a new hospital. i was especially nervous about the epidural/spinal. the previous births, i had the same anesthesiologist and he was excellent. he was fast, comforting, and made the procedure completely painless. and since this is our first baby in madison...i had no clue what to expect...i mean, i kind of had an idea... so anyway, it's funny how i forget about all the needle parts. it's like my brain deliberately blocks it all out...and then i'm sitting in the prep room thinking, oh yes...how did i not remember this? and i'm doing this again? well, there really is no turning back at this point. it wasn't too bad, i just really don't like needles. luckily sam was there to distract me and the nurses were great and friendly. my doctor arrived around 10:30ish and i was wheeled in for the real prep work. the spinal....eh, not as nice as i'd hoped. i missed having my old guy there 'cause this time i did feel the poke....and then numbness. whew! the blue curtain went up, sam came in, and baby came out. but just before they actually began the procedure, sam was chatting it up with the nurses and doctors. they asked what he was studying at UW. law. what kind of law is sam interested in? and sam being sam, said, "medical malpractice." you could seriously here a pin drop. everyone in the room froze and wondered if this guy was serious. sam laughed. then there was the nervous chuckle circling the room. and then sam stopped laughing, and said, "but seriously guys, do a good job." then began the surgery. this was the first time that sam actually recorded my tummy and the doctors pulling the baby out. it was pretty cool, especially since i've never seen the actual birth of any of my children before. way cool. there was tugging and pulling, and comments like "oh, look at her hair!" and then she was out,and i heard her cry for the first time. and then i started crying. that always seems to happen. ;) i still hadn't seen her. they cleaned her up and weighed her. 7lbs 12oz. then sam brought her over and the nurses took pictures for us. she was so perfect. and i cried more happy tears. it was such a surreal experience. i was more awake this time around. i wanted to be sure i remembered what happens after. they wheeled me into a post op room where they checked my vitals. i was feeling pretty okay, still couldn't move anything below my chest which was so weird. and sam sat there in the corner with our new baby calling all the grandparents so they could hear her cry. it was sweet and so wonderful. i got to hold her and she was so tiny. then they wheeled me into my real room. and i got to rest. sam stayed with me until the afternoon when he picked up isaiah and makayah. our great friend emily graciously offered to take care of them while we were at the hospital. so, the kids came and saw their new sibling. we all fell in love with her. it took a while to settle on a name. we finally named her the day before we had to leave. Samiyah Nizhoni Crowfoot. it means beautiful one, close to God. i really liked my stay. the room was nice and big for when the kids and sam came to visit. the nurses were awesome. and i got the rest i needed. by sunday morning i was so ready to go home though. we dressed baby samiyah. packed up our belongings. checked out with the nurse, picked up my meds, and came home to a very clean house with dinner on the table (dinner was compliments of our extraordinary neighbor, judy). it was all so perfect and calm and so not stressful. i had planned for the worst ('cause i definitely had had one of those) but this calm and peace was an extra sweet surprise and i was definitely grateful for it. it was such a beautiful sunday afternoon. the weather was still warm (i had two previous winter babies) and i just camped out in my rocking chair. we all hung out watching movies, holding baby, and talking with family on the phone. it was the perfect day. *sigh* :) and a very special thank you to all who helped us out. we really couldn't have juggled everything ourselves, especially being so far away from our families. thank you, thank you, thank you.

unfinished projects....

the nesting continued and i just had to finish up these sewing projects before the arrival of baby girl. i'm not sure when i started on this dress. but it is finally finished. and makayah has at least two to three months to wear it. it's a good thing she has a little sister to pass it on to as well. :) and a pair of butterfly camo pants. i love that makayah loves wearing the things i make for her.

nesting

the living room curtains. we bought the material from ikea. sam chose it. i think he made a great choice. :) the kids' curtains. it's a crazy quirk of mine, but when things match and the room flows nicely...it makes me so happy. labels, labels and more labels.... i wanted to be prepared for when after the baby was born. i didn't want to be overwhelmed with little ones asking for clothes, and what they should wear or where their clothes are supposed to go. so this was my solution. and i have to say, it is working wonders. i love labels.

Apple Picking

we started our afternoon off with a family visit to isaiah's classroom. isaiah's kindergarten teacher had invited all the families for a bit of show and tell. the kids showed us what they had been working on and some of their routines. it was great. i really, really love isaiah's teacher. 

after school, we all headed over to the apple orchard for family fun friday. 

 daddy was the most help seeing as he was the tallest and best aim. 

makayah helped carry the bag of apples.

 isaiah was our tree climber.

 and i was the preggo photographer, capturing sweet father son moments like this one. ;)

as you can see, we had so much fun. we bought our picked apples along with some apple cinnamon donuts and apple cider. it was a super yummy treat to eat while watching our fun friday movie. i can still taste those donuts! :)

mini me...

makayah likes to dress herself for preschool (and everyday actually)...and sometimes she will put together the craziest outfits. she deliberately wears mismatching socks..."but mom, i want to look like a rainbow!" my own mother told me the story of when i was a little girl and would deliberately wear mismatching shoes when we'd go out to town. they asked, "aren't you going to be embarrassed wearing one tennis shoe and one church shoe?" my five year old self confidently replied, "nope!"

it's like looking back into time, and this time, i'm in my mother's shoes. ;)

reverence child banner....check!

flower petal headband (she calls it her lovey dovey...i don't know why)....check!

without a care in the world....check, check, check!

i love this child. :)

First Badger Game

September 11, 2010

our wonderful friends called sam up and said they had extra tickets to the UW football game. we'd never been. so, we got a babysitter, rode the bus to the field (we didn't want to have to deal with parking) and saw the sea of red!

it was fun to have another date out before our little baby arrived. it quite unlike any BYU game we've ever been to...we'd probably never take the kids to a badgers game, but for the two of us, we loved the experience! :) thank you S. Fam!

Sam's Birthday Gift

september 3, 2010

for sam's birthday (back in july) i gave him tickets to his first chicago cubs game. ;) he had mentioned he wanted to go to a game at wrigley field someday...so...here we are! 

 we sang the baseball anthem, ate hotdogs and drank our soda. 

we ended up on the second pier so, we didn't really need the gloves, but we still had fun watching the game.

it was isaiah's and makayah's first game as well, they loved it. 

 had to get a picture by the wrigley sign. :)

my tough babes. 

happy birthday sam. i hope it was wonderful (besides the mess of traffic and parking). i love you. 

Makayah's First Day of Preschool

 makayah pretending to be upset about having to go to school...

 but really, she couldn't wait to go. on this day (thursday 9-2-10) it was orientation day. she only went an hour to get acquainted with the teachers - which she already was seeing as she would cry and beg to go along with isaiah to his preschool class. so she already had things down. but, nonetheless, orientation. ;)

this was on her actual first full day of preschool (tuesday 9-7-10). she was begging to go early. we got there and she shooed me out of the preschool room. i had waited around a bit since there were so many other kids crying, i wasn't sure if she'd take their lead. but, she looked around at the crying kids, and their moms...mak turned to me and said, "okay mom, you can go now...go, mom!" then she kissed and hugged me goodbye. she loves preschool and wishes she could go everyday. i'm glad she doesn't...i like having her around...my beautiful little girl. :) 

Isaiah's First Day of Kindergarten

9-2-2010 Isaiah was so happy and excited to start kindergarten. He would ask me how many days left until school started. Here is the bag he received from his "back to school" treasure hunt. He was thrilled to finally use it!

 in front of his school...Van Hise Elementary.

 Again, so happy and excited. 

 Makayah was thrilled as well, she loves tagging along with her big brother. 

 my handsome little man...i admit, the tears had threatened and i had choked up.

Isaiah's old desk.....

so, here's the story. i've written it about a thousand times already so i'm just gonna summarize. before the year had actually started, we went to register, received isaiah's teacher and visited her class and set up an appointment to visit with her as well. it was a straight kindergarten class, which i was extremely relieved at snatching. HOWEVER, two days later i receive a call from the principal telling me that isaiah will be switched to a K/1 class - kindergartners mixed with first graders. i was less than enthusiastic and let her know i strongly disagreed with her decision to displace my son. she said she'd take note. uh-thanks.

in the meantime, i tried to find out as much as i could about mixed classes. asked parents and other teachers a lot of questions. tried to be optimistic and enthusiastic for isaiah's sake. 

school started. he was excited, very excited. and when he came home, he somehow became a deflated balloon. he talked with his grandma crowfoot and she asked about his first day and what his favorite part of it was. he replied, "coming home." 

the following days were not much better. he seemed withdrawn and had a nervous stomach. asked if he could stay home from school. and then he began throwing up, begging me not to go to school. that was it. i scheduled an appointment with the principal. had our meeting with sam and i both present. she thought it wasn't a good idea to disrupt him. she thought he was thriving and he'd eventually get over it. and i basically let her know that there was no other option than to have him switched back to a straight kindergarten class. being a former teacher, i know exactly what is developmentally appropriate, and for a kindergartner to have to deal with a transition into public school, being the new kid, on top of having to deal with older and more intimidating/bullying first graders is too much to have to deal with. he was switched the next day - much to the dismay of the principal who said that she didn't think it would help. 

isaiah LOVES going to school now. he is excited, he has friends in his class, and he thinks his teacher is so funny. the change was immediate. he is back to his fun-loving, confident self. i'm so glad i fought for him. he's right where he should be. a kindergartner in a kindergarten class.