iLove

these are some iphone pictures from daniel's phone because mine got stolen last week at the grocery store. (insert sad emoji face with tear).

selfies with george while the boys grocery shop, and charles in daddy's church shoes. henry and chalres went home teaching with daniel and us kneeling down to pray- helicopters and all. my attempt at homemade bread and our delicious sunday dinner with the hill family, daniel's sister victoria never disappoints. what my cart looks like when we go to the supermercado- no wonder my phone got stolen, i have three babies in a cart! i can't focus on anything else! my awesome hammy down shoes that a dear friend gave to me. they bring me joy! pastels and a posing mom. more pastels and daniel's honeybees.

this is my normal right now.

xo

a night at the ballet.

last night was a night to remember. daniel and i went on a date with baby george! although george wasn't very social, he slept from the moment we got into the car to about three hours after we got home. nonetheless, daniel and i made the most of it. we found ourselves at the alpha theatro in são paulo watching the geneve ballet. it was one of the most inspiring shows i have ever attended. it made me cry. the dancers were stunning, technically flawless and could move so fluidly. the choreography was profound. i wanted to crawl on stage and somehow be apart of everything they were creating. oh! my heart! it aches to dance like that again. the whole way home daniel and i were brainstorming and dreaming of how to make that possible. this little journey of life that i have has given me so many things that bring me joy, two if which are my sweet family+husband and dancing. the only problem is that each of them require extreme dedication and commitment, time and a lot of energy. i am still trying to figure out ways to do both. i cherish the few hours i get during the week to sneak away to ballet class and i am loving my time as a full time mommy to my perfect little babes as well. i am trusting that god will provide ways for me to grow in all aspects of my life. he always does. 

i also realized i never shared this video i made a few months ago when i was about 8 months pregnant with george. it was so fun to make. the video i mean...george was fun to make too, i guess...!

enjoy! 

xo

his arrival

it all started at 5:30 AM the morning of july 6, 2015. i had a pretty bad nights "rest" and woke up to go to the bathroom. as i was standinging up i had a real contraction. i knew that feeling. the feeling came with so many emotions. i sat in my bathroom alone and started to cry. the veil was thin, and i knew i would meet a precious soul that day. i started to pray and told my heavenly father that i wanted to "enjoy labor" (like my mom had said in a prayer the day earlier) and that it would be easy and that all would go well. i sat on the toilet and read my scriptures, painted my nails (thanks kaori for the nail polish!) and breathed through the contractions that were coming about every 10 minutes. i felt so calm and peaceful. it was such a sacred, special day.

i went and told daniel that the contractions were coming about every 10 minutes. so he told his work he wouldn't be coming in. mom and dad were here, mom made us all green waffles. i went for a walk with charles to try to get the contractions to come a little faster. 

us waiting for the elevador. ^^

as i walked with charles to the park my heart was so full. i felt overwhelmed and blessed to be mothering these valiant babes. like i said earlier, the veil was thin all day long for me. i could feel my babies all around me. it was such a neat feeling. 

we got to the park (a playground we have downstairs) and there were two other families there. one lady i knew really well, she lives in our building, was pregnant and was a week behind me, but she had scheduled a c-section for the next day (brasil loves their c-sections :)). we talked and she asked when baby was coming. i said "today", she looked at me with a bit of confusion, and i said "i'm in labor." no one at the park really knew what to say. i was quiet and calm and every ten minutes would pace around the slide and breath through the strong contractions. ha. 

after our walk we went inside and we all talked and ate lunch. then we sat on the couch and texted my mid wife and pediatrician and i actually fell asleep for a little bit. i woke up and realized that the contractions had slowed down to about 16 minutes apart. so i started walking again and occasionally i would do some squats. daniel and i snuggled and talked and laid on the bed together and timed the contractions (with the app "full term"). daniel dozed off and then the contractions started getting stronger and stronger but were still about 7-6  minutes apart. since daniel was timing the contractions i knew i had 6 minutes to talk or pick baby's outfit out that he would wear or take a sip of grape juice, hug my boys etc, and then daniel would say "you have one more minute" and i would usually go on the deck or in our room where it was dark and i was alone and i would breathe through the contractions. i needed to be focused to get through them at this point. then there got to a point that i just wanted to be alone. i was rolling/bouncing on the yoga ball and contractions were coming about every 4 minutes. this was about 6:30 PM. daniel texted the midwife and she said she would come now since she lives about and hour and a half away. 

three hours before baby was born! ^^

i felt like i needed to use the bathroom so i went and sat on the toilet. it was chilly so i had a blanket over me. the contractions were coming strong and close together and i was getting emotional. i felt angels, you guys! i had my eyes closed and was praying and talking to baby, telling him that he needed to come see us now. i saw my grandpa that had passed away and lots of other beautiful children that will someday be mine. they were gathered in a group, encouraging me. i could feel them. it was one of the most beautiful experiences that i have ever had. tears were streaming down my face as i expressed my utmost gratitude to my father in heaven. the contractions were strong and i knew that we were getting close. the midwife came in around 9 something and checked baby's heart beat. she said he was doing wonderful and that she would leave me alone and that i still had "some time". (she didn't check me though) contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart. after a little while i felt like i needed to push. i told daniel and the midwife came in again and checked baby's heart beat. she looked at me and said "yep he's here". 

we moved into the bedroom and started to push. first i sat/ laid on the bed but after one push i knew that position was not going to work, then she told me to get on my hands and knees, and after one push i knew that position wouldn't work. so then (!!) i stood by our bed and wrapped my arms around daniel's neck. this is when i almost felt like i couldn't do it any longer. the contractions were starting to come on top of one another, and then i felt it. i could feel the head! holy cow- its the craziest feeling in the world. at this point its either do or die-luckily it only lasts a few seconds and then everything comes slipping and sliding out and you hear the most beautiful, perfect, relieving, tiniest little scream! he was perfect! i climbed up onto the bed and they put baby on my chest and a heating pad over us. within a few seconds he was asleep. then a few pushes later the placenta made its debut, daniel cut the cord and baby wanted to nurse. then...then! then the after birth pains!!! nooooo! they get worse with each child they say. great. 

anyways. around 10:27 PM baby george (then theodore, then fredrick, then back to george) arrived. we feel so blessed to call him ours. i would do labor and delivery a million times over again, it was such a special experience. 

his first picture. ^^^

xo