Bevan's Busy Birthday

Bevan arrived at 12:41 PM on January 29th, 2009. Her Birth Day was a very eventful day, given it was 3 weeks early and most likely early due to to an early wake up call from an appendicitis as well as contractions. After sending the kids off to a friend's and rushing to the hospital, my midwife nurse practitioner Machel Knowles diagnosed me with the appendicitis as well as in labor and dilated to a 5+. The rest of the day included rushing vaginal delivery (thank heavens) of Bevan, getting a CAT scan to verify the appendicitis, and lastly receiving an appendectomy. Dr. Whipple, who performed the surgery, said in his 35 years of doing appendectomies he had never encountered a same-day labor and appendectomy situation as mine. That was comforting to hear, ...not! Anyhow, regardless of the chaos, everything went off like a breeze. There were no complications whatsoever with the birth or the surgery! It was heaven sent. If I were to have any type of chaos in a medical situation, this would be my choice, to deliver a beautiful healthy baby girl as well as a sick inflamed appendix. Crazy stuff.
One interesting side note is that I had been praying that I would be able to have my baby early so my sister would be able to be there with me, given my mom couldn't, and she, Brynn, was coming into town for the Bell Womens Conference. The only complication was that I had been praying to have the baby on Saturday or Sunday, and I actually had her on Thursday, when Brynn was on the air plane to come here. She didn't even know I was in labor until she got the call when she landed that I had already delivered and was headed for an appendectomy. Unfortunately, however, I was unable to attend the conference wholeheartedly as I had so anticipated for a whole year, believe it or not. Moral of the story, be careful what you pray for, you might actually get it, and a whole lot more that you didn't ask for.

Our new family picture at the hospital.

Harris (4), Mandolin, Dave, Halen (6), Bevan, and Brigden (2).

My wonderful Midwife Nurse Practitioner Machel Knowles.

I love, need, and completely trust her! Side note: She was one my dad's girlfriends in college and we didn't even connect the dots until after she had already delivered 2 of my children. Thank goodness they ended things years ago on good terms. Sweet lady!

Halen is so excited to have a sister and she should be, as I truly love and appreciate mine!

Brigden is all smiles holding his new baby sister. He didn't take his eyes off of her the entire time we were in the hospital room. He kept saying, "Mom, they're taking my baby sister. Where is my baby sister?"

Tammy, Dad's wife, holding Bevan. Bevan's bright blonde hair looks like she would fit better in the Parker family then in the Bells. Such is life.

My support crew. I am so blessed to have all of them. Megan, Collin, Kevin, Bevan, Brynn, Diane, Emmy, Brandon, Andrea. What a joy to have them all visit!

Dad was my major support, besides Dave and Machel, during the day. He stayed the entire day with us as we encountered the birth, CAT scan, and the appendectomy. I so appreciated having him there, more than he'll ever know. I am so blessed to have him in my life, as well as here on earth with me.

I feel so blessed to have Bevan in our life. She is such a great addition to our family and we're so grateful that her delivery, although eventful, was quite safe and uncomplicated! We can't wait to get to know her in the near future.

Happy New Years!

Today was an awesome day for my family. Dave was able to spend his day off doing just as he's done for years on New Years Day, hunting. This year it was rabbits in Idaho. He'd been planning this day trip for a few weeks and was happy as can be to be able to go. He left early in the morning and returned in the afternoon having had a successful trip.

The kids and I enjoyed a fabulous day starting with breakfast with my siblings & dad at Corbin's home. It was wonderful to enjoy time together as Corbin happily hosted and prepared breakfast for all of us. How spoiled could we be? He even thanked us for giving him the opportunity to serve us, explaining his desire to be the best host (Monica from friends) possible. Then after chit chatting for a few hours we went to the Classic Roller Skating rink where the kids enjoyed bounce houses, pirates cove climbing, laser tag, arcade games, and roller skating while the adults enjoyed talking, talking, talking, ignoring their kids, talking, talking, ignoring their kids some more, and even more talking. We didn't leave until 5:30 pm and my children and I loved every minute of it.

While chatting, my aunt Allyson and I both came to the conclusion that in comparison to people like Dave whose hobbies include hunting or fishing or her sons whose hobbies are skiing or snowboarding, our hobbies are the same; people and our relationships with them. Dave dreams of spending his free days hunting and I dream of spending my entire day socializing with my family. Today both of our short term dreams came true. What a great day!