Meeting the Family

When we all met back at my room, Nate was only too happy to hand me Caitlyn. Love at first kick.

Kayla was just full of pure happiness. Her face is just glowing in every picture. Allie is of course happy but I think she has more mixed emotions. She knows she will no longer be the baby of the family.

Our family of 5

Kayla was overjoyed to get to hold her new sister.

Allie loved it too.

Nate and his girls
Grandma Laurie, Allie, Kayla, Caitlyn, and Grandma Darla

Kayla couldn't wait to help get Caitlyn dressed.

A fully clothed Caitlyn. We had to use mittens since right out of the bath Caitlyn scratched herself deep on her cheek.

I knew we wanted to give the girls a gift at the hospital. Finally I came up with Big Sister Tool Kits. Each girl got her own tool belt full of things like wipes, diapers, hand sanitizer, burp cloths, nail clippers, etc. They were pretty happy with their kits.

Caitlyn

Two very excited big sisters greeted Nate and Caitlyn in the hall on the way to the nursery. Thank you Grandma and Papa for getting them ready and there for the big event.
Check out that hair and ... I LOVE YOU! Look at her hand-how cool is that.
First bath.

Grandma, Allie, Papa, and Kayla watching from the hallway.

Nice and clean.

Anxiously waiting to get to hold their little sister.

Love her!

The Big Day is Finally Here

I have not had access to a computer and Internet, we took them, but they wouldn't work at the hospital. So sorry it has taken me so long to get pictures posted.
Waiting to be taken to surgery. There were several problems with my blood work that required me to be poked again and again. First the doctor's office I went to for the first 20 weeks never bothered to send my information. They had to draw an OB panel. Then the OB panel and the blood typing weren't matching up. They drew more blood to try and figure it out. While waiting on that, they wondered when I received my blood transfusion. I'm pretty sure I'd remember getting a transfusion. They said they had to send my blood to a specialty clinic because of some strange antigens. The nurse warned us that it could take a while. The doctors finally decided that it would take 12 hours at the speciality place so I had the choice to take my chances on possible organ failure if I needed a transfusion or waiting a day. Since I'd been assured of both of our health and safety in a blessing, we felt safe in going ahead with the c-section only a couple of hours late.
Anxious to see my baby.

Dr. Daddy We dropped Nate off on a bench in the hall while I went to be anesthetized and prepped. It was only supposed to take only 15 minutes. Over an hour later Nate finally got brought into the OR. They had some problems trying to give me a spinal. Twice my blood pressure dropped dangerously low resulting in almost passing out and then getting sick. I have never been so thrilled to be numb in all my life.

Introducing Caitlyn Jane Hulse. Born at 9:54 am. Weighing 6lbs 12.5 oz. Measuring 19 3/4 inches in length.

There are no words to describe the emotion I felt as I was actually able to spend a moment with my sweet new baby only minutes after she was born. This may be a normal thing for most new moms, but I have never been so fortunate as to have this experience before. The nurse was very kind, and he let me have a few minutes before taking her to get washed.

Caitlyn is perfect. She is completely healthy and has all her fingers and toes. We are so grateful to have her here and part of our family.

Old Posts

Okay, I finally got around to posting. There are tons of posts, and they are not in any particular order because I posted as I found the pictures. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday

Surprise!!! Since the baby could come anytime. We decided to celebrate the girls' half birthday while Cory's family and Mom were visiting. It was barely the first weekend of June so it was a little early.
I had everybody else hide while I went and found the girls. When I brought them out to the family room, everybody jumped out and yelled surprise! The girls turned and looked at the pile of presents. They were confused.
They wondered who's birthday it was. After I explained we were celebrating their birthday a little early, they were thrilled. Both girls have begged for a surprise party, so I figured they would like this.

It was a pretty low key party, but fun nonetheless. Happy Birthday girls!!!

Kayla's Flower Garden Room

Kayla really wanted her room to be like she was outside. It took some figuring, but we're all happy with the results. Kayla had her choice or bunks or queen and she chose the bunkbeds.
I found these cute quilts at Target online and had Nate pick them up for me. Ooops I don't think the top bed got made quite right.
BJ and Jessica painted this flower garden for Kayla to sit and read. I did end up adding a bunch of extra green so when you come for the baby blessing, you'll have to re-sign your work.

Kayla got a new bookshelf. It is a little tall for her now, but it should be much easier to keep clean then the Ikea shelf she had before.

This little corner is for a desk for Makayla. Right now the desk is still in my bedroom. Kayla earned it, but unfortunately we haven't had time to get it moved yet. In the meantime, Kayla is loving the pink chair I found online.

We decided to put Kayla's dresser in her closet. For now it works great, but if someday she wants more room in her closet, it can easily be moved. Yes the top two drawers of the dresser look a little weird. Right after Kayla got this dresser 3 years ago, she pulled it over by climbing the drawers before Daddy anchored it to the wall. It cracked the top two drawers, and Daddy just now is finally fixing them. Yeah, we're quick around here.

And finally here are Kayla's cute flower curtains and nightstand.

Two very happy sisters.

We are so glad to have the bedrooms done. It is a huge relief. We're also glad that both girls are loving sleeping downstairs. It hasn't been a problem at all. They are so happy with their rooms that they forget the basement used to be a scary place.

Allie's Pink Room

Allie wanted a pink room. So she got one. It is a little bright, but Allie is absolutely in love with it. I think it is great for this wild 5 year old.
Allie got a new dresser so her baby sister could use the little one Allie had. We decided to go with a lower, longer dresser so Allie could reach all the clothes herself. We were grateful to find this wood dresser that will last Allie a long long time. Allie, Kayla, and the wall of flowers and dolls. The big chair doesn't actually go in the room, but Kayla was enjoying it for the moment.

Of course Allie has to have her bookshelf. Since this picture was taken we added a vinyl Disney castle over it. It is huge and covers the entire space from shelf to ceiling. Allie loves it.

A 5 year old with a queen bed. It is crazy I know, but now we have a place for guests without actually having to commit an entire room to being just a guest room.

Closet system. We made the girls big walk-in closets that will definitely fit all their teenage needs.

Baby's Room

As soon as we got the girls moved downstairs, it was time to start on the baby's room. Nate painted the room a real pale blue/aqua color. Then we got to work decorating.

The bedding has a tree and bird on it. I found this cute vinyl tree at Target and thought it would be fun. It was a crazy puzzle to put up, but I had fun doing it.

On the wall behind the crib I think we'll put the baby's name, once we decide for sure.

The bassinet

Allie and Kayla have loved this bassinet. I had to convince them it was for baby and not for dolls. They can't wait to see their little sister in it.

The dresser with a nice new coat of paint.

We took Kayla's bookshelf and added a few extra boxes to convert it into a changing table for baby. I may still add the two more pink boxes, but I think it will work great for extra diapers, wipes, blankets, afghans, toys, etc.

Now all we need is a baby to make the room complete.

Playing with Cousins

Darla brought Morgan and Jordyn down for Kayla and Allie's dance recital. The girls all had soooo much fun playing together. We really do need to get them together more often. Sunday morning I got to do 4 girls hair for church. It was a little more-double what I'm used to so we went with simple braids across the top and curls. They loved having their hair the same and were thrilled to head off to primary together.
Once at church, I skipped out on singing time and joined Mom and Darla for Relief Society. While there I started having contractions. They were 3-5 minutes apart. I got up as soon as the lesson ended, wondering if walking around would help them stop. It definitely did not. The contractions just got stronger, so I grabbed Nate from singing time. My friends in the primary presidency figured something was up, and before we knew what was happening they had a sub for our class. We were sent home to decide if it was the real deal or not.
Since I've never really done the contraction thing, it was a bit scary for me. After debating and talking to the hospital, Nate and I decided to head into the U of U. I continued having contractions regularly for hours on end. Unfortunately I wasn't progressing. Finally after multiple doctors and midwives consulted, I was sent home. We were told it would be best if we could stay closer to the hospital. Of course we didn't have anywhere to do that, so we went home with the understanding we could easily be back in the middle of the night.
Nothing happened though. We're still just waiting and dealing with ever worsening contractions that aren't doing anybody any good.
While we were gone, the girls just played and played together. They got out Nate's magnetix and played with those for hours. Even after Morgan and Jordyn left, my girls continued to play with them all of Sunday and all of Monday. They made people and clothes. They set up stores and sold all of their creations to each other. I guess it was pretty cute. We're so grateful that our girls can have such fun with their cousins. And we're so grateful that Mom stayed an extra day while we hung out at the hospital.

Mother's Day at the Maddox

The Saturday before Mother's Day we took the time to meet our family in Brigham City according to tradition. It was a nice break from a crazy work schedule, especially for Nathan.
Angie and Tyler
Cory and Jason

Nate, Melissa, and Allie

Dad and Mom

Kayla and Ashley

David

Our large group

Look at the beautiful necklace from my husband and girls. It is a blue topaz which happens to be two little girls birthstone.

Mom got this purse which I absolutely love. I really wanted to go buy one after seeing hers, but I guess I'll be trading in my purse for a diaper bag sometime soon.

Of course we all enjoyed a delicious meal at the Maddox. Kayla was adamant that she wanted that white fish mom got one time. We tried to get a kids version, but they didn't have one. So I ended up getting the halibut mostly for Kayla. She loved it so much she ate all but the two bites I got. I ate her turkey steak. She has been willing to try all sorts of fish since then. It is wonderful to see her eating something so healthy.