Olive Denise Adams

Born May 9th at 11:37pm

7 lbs. 14.5 oz. and 19.5 inches long  

I (Michael) thought I could write something here while Carly and baby Olive are sleeping away.  It is Thursday now and they've had a long night and need some rest, and I wanted to record a little of the experience.

Carly and Katie

On Tuesday, May 8th Carly was set to get induced.  I had taken off work and my mom had flown in to watch A and P.  We were ready to make things happen.  Carly got all ready to go and at 7am we called the hospital they told us that they didn't have any open beds and  to call back at 9am, then at noon, then possibly later in the day, and finally they said to call back the next morning.  Instead of having a baby, Carly went to the fabric store to get fabric to redo the kids room.  Later my mom and I redid our backyard which looks like we were on a backyard makeover show or something.  I am super excited about it.

Carly wanted to remember how P could just sit on top of her pregnant belly. 

 Anyway yesterday morning we called the hospital and still no room in the inn.  Apparently since Carly was getting induced she didn't even get the barn out back.  So I went to work and Carly and my mom started work on the bumpers and and quilts.  At 5pm I got a very excited call from Carly who sounded like she had won the lottery.  We were going in.

 We got into our room about 6:45pm , but I think the nurse's shifts end at 7, so we didn't see anyone until probably 7:20 or so.  

 They went through the million questions and maybe around 8:40 they started Carly on Pitocin and around 9 they broke her water.  Then the epidural started maybe 30 minutes or so after that.  Things were calm for a while. 

Then the real contractions started and Carly realized that her epidural wasn't quite working right.  Her legs and everywhere down there went numb like it was supposed to but she could still feel every contraction (so could I as she squeezed my hand off).  She'd be hot during the contraction and cold in between, so I did my best to fan her and keep her comfortable.  She just kept saying, "Why would anyone want to give birth naturally.  This is so much worse than with Avery or Pierson."  I kept trying to get her to scream, like I remember hearing some lady screaming in the hospital when Avery was born or like the movies, but Carly said that would have taken too much work.  The anesthesiologist gave her a bigger dose of medicine, which helped to keep her right leg completely numb the whole night, but only slightly helped with Carly's painful contractions.  Around 11 o'clock the nurse called the doctor and things were moving along pretty fast and he'd better hurry and come in.  About 11:25 the doctor walked in and things were happening.  Carly started pushing and after 3 or 4 pushes Olive's little head came out, followed by the rest of her completely purple body.  With the exception of how purple she was, in my opinion, she was the most normal looking and prettiest baby of the three.  Sorry Avery and Pierson, you're cute now.  Or maybe I'm just getting used to how newborns look.  Carly looked great too, just as beautiful as ever.  Since Olive has been an unpopular name with some family and friends, I think we were hesitant to name her Olive, even though Carly and I both really like it.  But on the drive to the hospital we talked about it and I said since Carly has dark hair now, I thought Olive would too.  She agreed.  We both said that we thought that if she did have dark hair than I guess she's meant to be Olive.  As soon as I saw her hair, I thought she was a beautiful baby and Olive was the perfect name.   Anyway here are a bunch of picture I took.  Enjoy.

Immediately after.

Getting checked out. 

Getting weighed.  The smallest of the three kids at 7 lbs. 14.5 oz.

Carly loves little baby feet.

This must have been while I was asleep because I don't remember this at all.

Since the birth things have been pretty relaxed.  Olive has been a great nurser and has slept most of the time.  This morning my mom brought Pierson and Avery to meet their new baby sister.  I don't think she cried once; hopefully her calm, good nature will continue when we get home.  Avery was so excited she could hardly stand it.  She did a lot of her nervous giggle, but less than I expected, I actually think she was ready for Olive to come and couldn't wait to hold her.  Pierson just kept saying, "oh she's cute".  He would then smoosh her face with 10 kisses.  They were both really good with her.  Hopefully that will continue when we get home too.
 

Avery hid in the same spot when Pierson was born.  He thought it was pretty cool in there.

Avery held her like this while we talked for probably an hour.  She's a pro.

Pierson thought the view of the ocean and the bay was pretty cool.

 Thanks for all the well wishes.  We feel extremely blessed and happy to have Olive in our family.  She is such a sweet girl already.

Here are the bunk beds that Michael built... aren't they pretty awesome? The kids LOVE them. Avery calls the top bunk her Rapunzel tower and says she's not scared because no bad things can get her up that high. I didn't really take any pictures of the process of making them but we did get a few shots of Avery helping paint them. Isn't she a cute painter!? I bought fabric yesterday for bedding and I am excited to get started on it. Now we just have to figure out how to rearrange the room to make them not looks so massive. One project down, one just beginning! Isn't that the way it always works? I will be excited when there room is complete!

Here We Are Today

Today is April 29. We were a little late to Church today, but such is life... right? The kids got new bunk beds last night (more on that soon) and we had a late night setting them up. Today I am 38 weeks pregnant. Its exciting to think in two weeks from today we will have a baby. I have an ultrasound Tuesday to set an induction date which will probably be May 7, 8, or 9th depending on the doctor's schedule. How in the world is this pregnancy over? But I also think, how in the world can I get any bigger (I really don't want to find out that question)? We have had a good Sunday and are about to have dinner with friends. The weather is great. The kids are great (Pierson needed the nap to be great). It's just another day in paradise!

Last Valentine's Day

Was a Monday and we had dinner group. I cooked dinner and we shared it with some of our favorite people...

Here is Michael and I cheesing it up

Leah and Gwen.... husbandless. They were probably just as happy with each other.

The little babes. They sure were little.

The bigger kids, but they are still really little.
These two are some of Avery's favorite people (even though R doesn't look as excited).

And here is my chubby cheeked baby drinking from a goblet. Oh he was so little!

This year for Valentine's Day didn't really seem much like Valentine's at all. We did go and surprise Michael at work for lunch. But Michael had to go to mutual (youth group) so the kids and I did our normal Tuesday routine. I didn't even take one picture. How lame am I?

Sundays January 2011

Since I posted practically nothing last year I am going to have a lot of retro-posts trying to make up for the year I slacked off. Here our the January Sundays that I found of 2011. I think its crazy how much Pierce and I changed in a year and how little Michael and Avery did.

The kids were just so cute... and my tummy (and face and thighs) was just so much smaller!

January 2012 Sundays

For over a year we have been taking weekly Sunday pictures. Up to this point, I have not been a great poster of these pictures so this year I am going to make it a goal to post every Sunday picture. Here is the first month.

January 1, 2012

January 8, 2012

(and the fat pregnant face begins... 22 weeks)

January 15, 2012

January 22, 2012

January 29,2012

A New Year

We have had a great new year so far. We haven't done anything too exciting but we did have my birthday yesterday and it was wonderful. Lindsi came in town on Friday night, we went to Simply FOndue on Saturday with Russ, Katie, Kari, and Rob (sans kids). Yesterday Michael had the day off of work and he kept the kids so I could go out to lunch with Lindsi and Katie. Then we dropped Lindsi off at the airport and later went to Lucille's BBQ for dinner with Rob and Kari. It was delicious... here is the only picture we (Kari) took on my birthday. THANKS everybody it was a great 27th birthday!

What the Hail?

That was the common phrase around here last Saturday morning :)
When we woke up it was like any other day. Michael left to pick up some furniture in LA and the kids went out to play. Then we heard a ton of scary thunder. We went over to the neighbors to talk about how crazy the thunder was. Then all of the sudden it started hailing... out of nowhere. I jumped into their house with the kids. I realized I needed to get this on camera so I ran back to my house and got pelted by the hail. Which didn't hurt, just wanted to sound dramatic :)

The hail was at least marble-grape sized. It covered the ground in white then the rain started to pour. The video is the transitions from hail to rain.

I seriously have never seen anything like this... even in all my Alabama years. It was so crazy! When Michael got back it was sunny and most of the hail was melted... like it had never happened. I am glad that i got video so that he could see it but he was sad he missed it in person.

On the same note there was an earthquake centered in Newport Beach two night ago. I think it was a 3.6. So crazy!

This is what happens...

When you clean your house by 9am.
When you try and study your scriptures.
When your kids are surprisingly quiet and getting along.
When you have a boy.

I wish you could see all the swiffer wet jet fluid all over my floor... and my 50lb bag of flour. Thank you son. He also ripped open that box of Lucky Charms and the bag. His sister would have never done that :)

I tried to get a picture of the thread that was laced throughout my living room but you couldn't see it. You couldn't walk with out getting tangled in yards and yards of all my thread. Thank you sissy.

I guess you can't be on top of it all.... even when you thought you were doing a darn good job of it.

I am Grateful for Dads

This weekend for Father's Day, Michael and some friends decided to go hike Zions. They were gone for 48 hours and drove 16 of them, but Mike said it was totally worth it. I was glad that he had fun but even more glad that he was home. There is not a face I like seeing more than my husband's. He is definitely the best thing that has ever happened to me. He is so kind and patient with me and the kids. I am so grateful that he has such a strong testimony of the Gospel and shares that with our children. I am grateful that he likes to play with them whether it be babies, princesses, wrestling

I am grateful for Michael's dad. Not only for raising the best guy ever, but for how wonderful, loving, kind, and understanding he is. I have always felt very loved and accepted in Michael's family and my father-in-law plays a huge role in that. He's the one that made us realize that we needed to get married. He really is great.

I am grateful for my dad. He has always been so fun, loving, and supportive my whole life. He is a pretty chill guy which is quite a task when living with 9 girls. He has always been more than willing to do things with me like school projects, looking into prosthetics, urging me to do the Paralympics, and getting me a job with HOme Depot under the OJOP program. He has really blessed my life in so many ways and I think he is the absolute best dad. I love him a lot!

I don't have pictures of my grandpas but I am so grateful for them in my life as well. They have always been a source of wisdom, kindness, and love. They raised two wonderful parents that I have been blessed with. They have always supported me and been there for me in times I needed them.

I am also grateful for my Father in Heaven who has blessed my life each day in countless ways. I know that He loves me and is there for me always.

And since I am back I feel like I should be rewarded this trip to Paris.

Or at least some one I know. Go and enter! If you win and need someone to go with you, just give me a call :)

Hi Old Friend,

Remember me? I won't be surprised if you don't since I haven't been around the last FOUR months. I've been trying to come around more often but for some reason never made it. But I am going to try and be better. Maybe I'll come around weekly.... maybe. I do have a lot to tell though. In 4 months a LOT has happened: family visiting, Utah trip, friends visiting, cruise with no kids, and so much more. Do you remember this guy?

He's 28 now. That is getting old. Though he seems to stay young by playing tennis weekly, surfing on Saturday, camping (with Pierce even), and hanging out with the 12-13 year old boys in our ward. He's even built some furniture for our home, but I'll show you pictures later. One thing that keeps us busy is this little lady.

I think she can talk for 30 minutes without missing a beat. She is a very persistent question asker. She is a very smart joy schooler. She can write letters so well. She loves to write out our family member's names (unless I ask her to, of course). She even wrote out Happy BIrthday once.... and that is a big phrase when you are a little girl. She has learned to swim on her own. She is my 2nd in command and helps with a lot of things. She likes all things Cinderella, princess, pink and Dora. She loves being a Sunbeam in Primary. She loves to learn songs and sing them like princesses and robots. She loves the beach and Disneyland. But most of all she loves her pink baby Lucy, the real baby Lucy (pictures to come), her dad and mom, and her buddy.

Yep, this guy. I mean how could you not love this little boy. Even when he tries to attack you for doing what your mom says (or what you think your mom should have said). He is our crazy boy. In an hour today he had 3 major falls. I am glad that he is still alive. He likes to climb, swing, slide, and throw just about anything. He likes to find germs where ever he can and eat them. Like today at the pool when he was sucking up water off the pool deck. Ick. He likes to give you a hug and when he does he says in his little man voice "hug". That's how he says sorry too. He has become very polite but has shortend all polite words to "welcome." He can fold his arms during a prayer... about twice a week :) if you're sad he'll rub your back. If you're tired he'll wake you up at 6am, just to make sure you don't sleep in and miss anything. Because of his early rising he has come to love Dora (I'll do anything to sleep til 7). He will sing "dora, dora, dora" just like the song. Probably not a thing to brag about but it is so darn cute. He will also sing like princess Ariel. He will share with his sister if she asks nicely. He peed on the toilet today... after a little dribble on the floor (don't worry we're still months away). He goes to sleep with his nigh-nigh (blanket), quack quack (duck), and paci. Oh how he loves his paci.

Well, that is just a small update. I do have a lot more to come. Hopefully I will remember that this isn't as painful and time consuming as I remember it being. It does feel good to be back. Talk to you soon.

Carly