Juniper's Blessing:

We hold this beautiful infant in our arms to give her a name and a blessing.
Heavenly Father at this time we see this infant and we know that she came from thee surrounded by those that love her. Please bless her to always remember that she has a relationship with thee. Bless her that she will gain strength and confidence from this relationship. Please bless her to always follow thy son and use the atonement in her life. Help her to develop a love of learning and a desire to seek out the best books. Please bless her with safety and help her to know how to avoid extra troubles in this world.  Bless her that she will live in a way as to not offend the spirit so that He will be a constant companion to her.  Bless her to have a desire to be married in the temple. Bless her that she will find a husband that will provide for her and keep her safe and they can progress together until they can return and live with thee again.
We are grateful for this bundle of joy.  Thank you for allowing her to come to our family.

Juni's baby blessing

We blessed Juni today. She is so precious. She did not cry. Paul gave her a beautiful blessing. Juni had a great group of priesthood holding men surround her for her blessing. John Clifford, Bishop Llewellyn, Ryan Christensen, Jake Budd, Trevor Davis, Randy Balmforth, and Travis Hamblin. Paul said he really felt the spirit exercising his priesthood with so many worthy men. It was special to have her blessing on Easter Sunday. The program was really nice with lots of musical numbers . Paul sang "He is Risen" with a group of wonderful men. Eirik and Joren sang with the primary. I tried to video the second song but Joren was cracking me up so much I could not hold the camera steady. He is such a goofball!
Juni wore a beautiful dress from her Aunt Amy that her cousins wore for their blessings. Our dear friend Debbe Lavely made a beautiful white crocheted hat to marching the little booties I had. She even found a button to match exactly. Debbe has become a very special part of our lives. She loves our boys so much and treats them like grand kids. Last week we sang "Till We Meet" in sacrament meeting while i sat next to Debbe sand I cried through the whole thing.
It was also special that Pat and John were able to be here for her blessing. It gives me a taste of what it will be like to be near family and I love it!

Mom is best

Could my mom be any cuter?  Look at her smile.  She brightens up any place she goes, and that's just what she did the week she was at our home in Detroit.  She came with that smile and spent a whole week making us happy as clams.  The only thing that is great about living far away is that when we do get to see each other, we get to really spend quality time together.  At home, my mom is one busy woman and everyone wants her attention, but at my house, we get her all to ourselves.  We felt really spoiled.  She brought one of our first warm days with her and we spent it outside raking, riding bikes and playing tennis in the front yard.  By the late afternoon, some of us even took our coats off for a while.  The next day was snowing again, but we made the most of the sunshine!

 

  

 Joren and Eirik picked up bike riding right where we left off in the fall and they rode like champs. 

 Paul suggested that we go back to Belle Isle. It's been about 4 years since we first explored there and we thought my mom might like it.  The aquarium was open this time.  The ceiling made of green glass tile was gorgeous.  There were some really awesome animals there, and lots of tanks filled with artistic displays made my local artists.  

 The conservatory opened in 1904.  It has hundreds of orchids and amazing tropicals.  It was fun to see my mom get excited about the cacti and succulents, which I really love too.  Paul and I love the century plants.  Joren got a little wild and Paul took him to the corner to do push ups.  Teig thought there were real tigers in the roped off area of the tropical room.  We all growled and played along and Teig talked about the tigers for the rest of the day.  Eirik liked getting the brochures and then complained that we never get to do what he wants to do.

  

 For lunch Paul took us to a small Coney Island where we all got Greek food and Coney Island hot dogs.  Is this the greatest group of people ever?  I am such a lucky girl.  Juni is up there in the car seat.  On the way back to the car we stopped at a cute little bakery and all got St. Patrick's day cookies.  Paul gets the award for the best Sat. event planner.  It was such a fun day.

 Besides a few small errands and trips to the grocery store, the rest of the week, we spent out of the snow, in the warm house playing with boys and snuggling little Juni.  I commandeered my moms help on a bunch of projects like tying one of Juni's quilts.  We did little starburst patterns every 5" in different colored floss.  It turned out looking pretty vintage.  I will have to photograph the front which has a gorgeous flower pattern I have been drooling over for years. 

 For St. Patricks day my mom bought corned beef which we made with cabbage and potatoes.  Paul made us all crack up with his Irish accent and Eirik taught us all about Ireland which he's been studying about at school.  Then we watched some step dancing on Paul's phone and we all tried it out, which quickly transformed into a full out Aanderud dance party.
The next day we made rainbow fruit skewers and rainbow pancakes.  Surprisingly, my kids devour fruit when it is served like this.  Otherwise.. not so much.  Skewers also make great battle weapons.  Ah, the unexpected outcome of simple fruit kabobs.

 My mom said that it is tradition for grandmas to make sugar cookies with their grandkids, so she carried it on.  She let the kids cut out the shapes and then we all had fun decorating them.  There was a day when I used to spend hours decorating sugar cookies.  I have had a big enough dose of reality that this time I limited my boys to two colors and sprinkles. 

They were just fine with that.

My mom also brought egg dye and helped the boys dye eggs.  Yay!  I did not have to do it this year.  Not that i don't love it, I just get way too carried away and loose my focus on the essential simplicity of dying eggs with little ones.  My mom is awesome.
When we took her to the airport I could not help but feel like I was getting an arm cut off.  I miss her and can't wait to see her again.

Adjustment Period

People keep asking me how the boys are adjusting to having a new little sister.  They all love her and act adoring to her.  They all say how cute she is and pray for her and give her kisses and want to hold her.  Teig holds her for about 4 seconds and then says, "i'm all done" and pushes her off his lap.  Joren says, "if we did not have baby Juni, I would go to the doctor's office and just bring her home as fast as I could!"  On the surface they all love having a sister.  But as I thought about it a little more I realized a few things. 
Since Juni came home, Eirik has started saying even more often how everyone in the world hates him, how no one is nice to him, how when he gets older he wants to throw throwing knives at his face... Dramatic things like that to get attention.  He also said, "I don't want Juni around because that just means  that there is one more person I have to help.

Joren has started a new stage of liking all things fairy and tinker bell.  It started with a drawing from school and since then he has made a fairy book every day, little wooden fairies, and he has commandeered Juni's new pink and purple blanket for his bed.  He claims that girls get more attention and that he wants to be a girl. 

 

Teig had to give up his crib for Juni and we moved him into a big boy bed.  He has been really excited about being a big boy and he has pretty much mastered potty training.  He has started to refuse to wear diapers to bed even though there are still sometimes nighttime accidents, but he is intent of being a big boy.  Every time he eats anything he says he has gotten taller like Eirik.  And with his newly discovered big boy age has come a new big boy attitude.  His tantrums and insistence on independence have become truly impressive.  He has also suddenly decided that he is too big for naps and refuses to take them.  Then he is outrageously tired by 7:00.  Getting Paul to give up an hour of Teig time at night has, so far, been impossible, so we have had some pretty out of control bedtimes with an overtired 2 going on 5 year old.  When he is rested he is still that super delightful, kind and easy to be entreated boy, but if he is tired, look out, Hyde is out!

Not quite sure what to think..

For the first 10 days home from the hospital we had at least one extra kid besides Juni in our bed with us.  They have all needed lots of reassurance that they are still loved and not being displaced.  We have sure tried to ease this transition, but we are sure not through it yet. 

Juni's room

 

  

 

Welcome Juinper Gayle!!

 

One of the great things about being induced is that you can look rested and ready when you arrive at the hospital, even if you are not.  I spent a lot of time pleading with my Heavenly Father that I would go into labor on my own the night before, and I hardly slept at all.  I don't know why I was so anxious about it, but I just wanted her to come when she was ready and to not be forced here early.  I was relieved when we got to the hospital to learn that I was dilated to a 4, I was having contractions, and she was fully engaged, so it was safe to break my water before pitocin and see if labor would start.  Start it did.  Hard contractions started within an hour and then I went from a 4 to a 10 in 45 minutes. By the time I was crying out for pain killer, the anesthesiologist had time to administer 1/2 a bolus of an intrathecal shot which worked a little too well for my taste and we waited another 45 minutes for the pain killer to wear off enough for me to push her out.  I just could not push properly without feeling the contractions, so I waited.  Waiting was a little awkward.  I was so glad when it was finally time to get her out into the world.  What an exciting, overwhelming moment that is!  I had a great nurse who put Juni right on my chest, skin to skin right after she came out.  She was perfect.  Tiny, and graceful, delicate and feminine, beautiful and ...wait, what?  Dark hair!  What a surprise, beautiful dark hair at the nape of her neck!  Blue, very dark blue eyes, long fingers, 6 lbs 12 oz. and 20" long.  She was gorgeous and the minute I saw her I never wanted to let her out of my gaze or arms ever again.  Oh what a wonderful thing it is to be a mother!  Labor is amazing.  I was glad when they told me they call my experience an augmentation instead of an induction.  I don't know why that makes a difference to me.  It feels more like it's supposed to.  I put in some big thank you's to my Father above for that.  The whole process of growing a human inside me still just blows my mind.  To think that this perfect, gorgeous baby that will grow into a woman that could live 100 years, started inside me; well, it's just astounding.  Now, and forever we will have a daughter and three wonderful sons in our posterity, and all I had to do was make it through 9 months of discomfort.  It's a small price, really.  I did not like it.  Did not like it at all, but looking at this incredible daughter, it is all worth it.  What a miracle.

 

  

 

We were excited to get our boys and have our whole family together at home.  We picked them up at the park where our friend Liz took them to play.  We brought Juni home on a beautiful spring day and we all enjoyed the sunshine for a few minutes before heading home.  Kasey will die when she sees that Paul brought her gorgeous quilt outside, but she should know that Paul wanted to bring Juni home in one of her very best blankets.  You can't see it very well, but this quilt Kasey made is amazing!

 We love you Juniper Gayle!

No more waiting!

It is here. After so much waiting... so much anticipation.. so much preparation; the day has finally arrived. It's weird how you know something is coming and every thing about it is perfectly real as the days roll on, but when the moment finally arrives it all seams completely surreal. Can it be true that in the morning we are going to drive casually to the hospital and within a few hours we will hold a baby girl that will be a part of our lives for the rest of eternity? Yes, we decided to schedule an induction. It's not my first choice but my doctor will be out of town next week and I have a comfort level with him that is valuable to me. Having a doctor deliver Juni that we have not met makes me nervous an waiting makes me crazy. Yes I'll admit , I'm impatient. I'm so excited, and now that the day is here I'm nervous too. I want labor to start naturally right now so bad. We have been trying all the tricks; working out, running, spicy Thai food, pressure points.. just not caster oil, yuck.  Well good night and wish us luck!

Belly shot- Juni- Come out!!

This photo is from Feb 2nd- over a month old.  Paul said he is sad that this is the last time I am going to be pregnant.  Well, he is not the one pregnant and I am so excited that my due date is at the end of this week.  I feel like every minute is an attempted distraction to keep me from going crazy with waiting.  I just want to hold this little girl in my arms so bad.  I want her out of my body and in my sight so I can kiss her and welcome her (and walk normal again).  I am trying to remember that 9 months is a short time when compared with how long we will get to have a daughter.  It is a small time to wait to get to always be a mother to a daughter.  What will it be like?  Will she be like me?  Will she like me?  Will she add that sweet missing something to our little family that I hope she will.  Will she grow up to love me and be the friend I imagine?  I am crazy about her and obsessed with preparing for her arrival.  I think Paul has suffered from my distraction.  All I can think about is that it could be any moment that she arrives.  I thought for sure it would be last night, but I woke up still in my bed and no contractions.  I have been going on little runs and working out.  The bags are all packed, the crib is made.  Her blanket is finished.  Her clothes are all prepared.  I have diapers and vitamins and the car seat is in the car.  I have nothing on the schedule for this week.  It's going to be a long week if she does not arrive soon.
And, I learned last Monday that my doctor is going out of town for a week starting the day I am due.  He wants me to schedule an induction.  I don't want to.  Paul had a nightmare last night about having another doctor there for the delivery and nothing went like we hoped and the doctor was not nice.  Paul said he does not want any other doctor to deliver Juni than Dr. Butto.  I agree, but I'm not interested in being induced.  Still, I want her here so bad!  I might be persuaded again, even though it's not my first choice.  Really, all I care about is her getting here safely.  The method of delivery is important, but not that important.  I've had a natural birth, one with an epidural a week late and one induction and all were amazing.  There is just no pitocin without an epidural in my mind though, and my first choice is to labor quickly and get there late enough that it is too late to get the epidural and just push her out, and it should happen tonight.  :)  That's not too much to ask right?  Well, I think I might schedule an induction for Thursday if I don't go into labor before then.  What am I saying?!  I guess the rush to the hospital is part of the excitement and I don't like the idea of it being scheduled.  I love that moment when you realize, "it's now.. I'm in labor. Let's go!!"  With an induction you go sit in a hospital bed for hours and hours while hooked up to needles and you wait and wait.  I really don't enjoy that at all.  I want to be in and out of the hospital just as fast as possible and crawling into the delivery room is part of the rush.  I know, I'm a bit crazy I guess.
All I know is she's squirming and kicking around and I'm so full of excitement and anticipation that I can hardly sleep or think about anything else and I feel like I've got a lid on, but if I have to wait much longer, well.. I just can't!  Let's have a baby!! 

Juni's Baby Shower!!

My friends threw me the most wonderful baby shower!  I can't believe I did not take photos of the cute decorations that my friend Jena made for it!  The food was delicious.  The gifts were generous and thoughtful and amazing and the company can not be beat.  I am so blessed to have these amazing women in my life!

I asked all of my friends to sign a matt that I will put a photo of baby Juni in so that I could have the names of all the women who are around supporting us right now.  What great women!  I am so lucky.

I

 Jill Traylor, Aimee Smith, Me, Liz Bud, Jena Flannigan

 Kim Losee, me Bonnie Lepage

 Britni Hamblin, Carlotta Stephens, me

 Sarah Romer, Erin Walker, me, Annie Christensen, Anona Davis, Jenny Balmforth, Jena Flannigan

Two of the best women I know.

I didn't get good photos of all the presents, but there are a few that I had to show.  Jena made me this bear and my mom gave us this wonderful fur throw.

My bestie Kit made this amazing quilt from vintage hankies she has been collecting.  Could this be more gorgeous?! It has Juni's initials embroidered next to a beautiful Juniper branch.  Seriously, I can't believe how wonderful this is!

 Kit picked up this awesome tunic for Juni.  I have no idea where she found this, but I adore it.

 

Cari Guernsey made this adorable little owl. 

Cousin Dave sent these darling Nike's!  Really, baby Nike's!  So cute!

 

We have a senior missionary couple, the Belnaps, that have been serving in our ward for 2 years.  They have worked so hard and brought a lot of people to the gospel.  I love these guys. They are real amazing examples.  They are done with their two years this month.  Today sister Belnap gave me a quilt that she had made. She said it was her first quilt and she had her friend come teach her to make it. She did not bring her sewing machine from Idaho so she learned to use her friends. It is beautiful and I just can't believe that I would be the one to get her first quilt. I am speachless.  I have been so spoiled by everyone I know.  It has been overwhelming to receive so much attention and gifts and love.