Christmas

 Jilly and cousin Jaren were born just a few weeks apart, and since Jaren's blessing was to occur over the holidays, the Gibbons clan came together for Christmas at Grandma Hill's house. Evelyn's hair was finally getting long enough (and she was no longer ripping it out), to keep a little pony-tail in.

 Evelyn loved having another little buddy to run around with. Though I don't know how much Kaden loved it.

 We were just getting Evelyn accustomed to snow, and she liked it until she got cold. Or I got cold.

 Aunt Heather was nice enough to take her out and play with her in the snow.

 We went to the Southeast corner of Idaho for Jaren's blessing. It was colder and snowier than Grandma Hills house, but we all had fun talking together and letting the kids run around. We stayed in Tyler's Grandma's old house, which was more than large enough for all of us. I will always remember the batch of mint-chocolate chip brownies I made and ate that ended up making Jilly wake up every hour during the night. She wasn't cranky about it, just awake. All I could think was that it had to be the caffeine in the chocolate.

 I was trying to help Evelyn figure out that you could keep reaching in and finding surprises in the stocking. She was happy picking one and running away.

 Daddy helped her open a present, and soon she was wanting to help everyone rip the paper off their gifts.

 Jilly getting really smiley for Grandma Gibbons. She had a clogged tear duct in her left eye until she was 3 or 4 months old, so that eye was a little gunky in several pictures we have.

Grandma made this car seat cover, which we used quite a bit in the cold and windy winter. I like how Jilly's face is peeping out. After we finished up Christmas here, we headed to western Idaho to visit the Cluffs.

First part of December

A picture Daddy took before he headed out to school one morning - I was tired! When Evelyn was a newborn, I would sleep in until 10 am or later sometimes. That luxury was now gone with Evelyn waking up around 7:30 most mornings. 

 So I could often be found on the couch napping, or trying to while Evelyn was napping or otherwise occupied. 

 Evelyn started carrying stuff around almost constantly at this age. A phone was a favorite item, and anything with a handle worked well too. 

 A cute face where you can see the brown of her eyes starting to develop. They'd been slate gray for so long, I thought they were going to stay that way. 

 Getting ready to brave the cold. 

 Ben got creative one night and built a fort so Evelyn would have somewhere to focus her energy. I can't remember what I would do all day to keep her entertained during the winter. She didn't have much stamina to be out in the snow and cold for too long. 

 She enjoyed it. 

 Talking to Grandma Cluff (I think). She liked to wear the headphones, just like Daddy. 

 Hanging out with Jillian. 

 One of Jilly's first smiles while awake, though I think it was still a spontaneous smile. We hadn't done anything to elicit the smile. 

 Helping Mommy again. Never-ending piles of dishes. 

 Evelyn's first experience with snow. She lasted about 15 minutes before getting cold and wanting to go in the house. It being night outside probably didn't help either. 

 A cute baby face, finally cleared of baby acne and oil. She was starting to interact just a bit by this time. 

Evelyn got this doll high chair as a gift from one of Ben's friends, and she was convinced it was for her to sit in. See the baby doll in the background? She wasn't about to let the doll sit in there. I think she eventually ended up breaking it. 

Other pics from November

 Evelyn had just woken up from a nap, and was watching her beloved Baby Einstein, "Old McDonald had a Farm." She loved it, and she'd watch it three times in a row before getting bored to come and find me. 

 "The Fridge Bandit." None of the other kids have been as interested as Evelyn was in the fridge and it's contents. She would pull the entire bottom shelf out. I think we only had one jar get broken at some point. 

 Toilet plungers are good toys. She just liked having something to drag around. 

 "Helping" me with the dishes. It was pretty much the only way I could get them done. 

 I can't get this picture to flip, but she was hamming it up for the camera. 

 Jilly at about 10 days old. 

 She would hang out in the baby seat for most the day, and Evelyn would mostly ignore her, except when she started making noise. 

 We went to St. George for Thanksgiving with Ben's family at his Grandpa Hafen's home, and took a new and updated family picture. We played games, toured St. George a bit, and had fun being together. All the women enjoyed taking turns holding a new baby. 

 Grandpa took these pictures for us as well. The weather was so nice that weekend, I loved getting another chance to wear my sandals before the cold forced them back into the closet until spring. 

 Evelyn loved watching Elke play Zuma on her laptop. She would crouch over like that, and stand there for quite a while. 

Uncle Nate and Aunt Chelle got little Christmas pajamas for Jilly's baby gift, while Great Grandma Buttons had given her an elastic headband that was also Christmas-colored. 

Jilly arrives! (albeit stubbornly)

Nine days after Jilly was officially due, I went in for a non-stress test. She didn't move around as much as the doctor wanted, and I was quite overdue, so they said I would be going in for another induction at 5 pm and that I wouldn't be able to "opt out" this time around. (Note to self: next time, don't go in for a test when the baby is usually napping or something. Drink a soda before hand, wake the kid up!) We called our friends the Johnstons' to see if they could take Evelyn until Mom Cluff could make the 6 hour drive from Idaho. They had Evelyn over, but Ev decided she didn't need to sleep and was still up when Grandma arrived at 10:30 pm. 

 Evelyn threw up on Grandma when they got back to our house. Just what you want to have happen when you're in the hospital with a new baby! 

 I'd been given cytotec this time around, and pictocin. Not much was happening as we sat there and watched TV, and around 10 pm, we decided to call it a night and try to sleep. An hour and a half later, I woke up to a pop, and nearly all the amniotic fluid came out. I went into labor real fast after that. I had hoped to hold off on an epidural, but only an hour after the water broke (1:30 am) I needed it to cope with contractions that were right on top of each other. I went from 2 cm to 5 in 45 minutes of hard contractions. The nurses had to pump saline back into my uterus to give Jilly some cushioning, as she was getting completely squished by really hard contractions. I had to go on oxygen as well. My epidural was much lighter this time around (per my request) and 3 hours later, I was ready to push a baby out. 

 She arrived at 4:50 am, with 20 minutes of pushing. She didn't want to breathe intially, and one of the few things I remember was a doctor saying, "Come on baby, you've got to breathe sometime." She finally started crying, more like whimpering, and quieted down once she was all wrapped up. 

 Daddy gets to do all the fun stuff, like watch her examinations and baths. 

 She obviously didn't enjoy her bath very much. 

 Cute and calmed down. 

 After Evelyn was born, I fell asleep (partly due to the heavy epidural - I kept pushing the button). This time, I couldn't go to sleep. I just wanted to see Jillian and hold her. When she finally came in, she started fussing, and that carried on for a few hours. I was already having a mini-panic attack that she might be colicky, but the nurse assured me that no judgement like that could yet be made, and that she probably just had a headache from getting squished. She eventually stopped fussing. 

 Grandma arrived with Evelyn in the morning, who had only thrown up once. Evelyn was pointing out Jilly's facial features. 

 Grandma with another grand-baby. 

 Little feet. Jilly weighed 7 lbs, 7 oz, and was 19" long. Only 2 oz. smaller than Evelyn, and shorter than Ev by an inch. 

 Evelyn was happy to be with Mommy again. 

 I didn't remember Evelyn looking so small in the car seat. 

Grandma took good care of Evelyn, even getting her hair into pigtails. 

 The night we arrived home, we put together a new bouncy seat so Jilly would have a safe place to lay out in the front room of the apartment. 

 We also discovered that Evelyn had some yucky stomach virus - she threw up again around midnight, repeatedly, for about an hour. I thought I was going to mentally and emotionally lose it. Post-baby hormones and never having had a throwing up toddler before, Ben and I were way stressed out. I said a prayer that I could keep it together, and Evelyn was eventually able to go back to sleep. Everyone was exhausted. 

Jillian peacefully slept through it all.