Baby Photo Shoot

We had to get newborn pictures of Brooklyn because she is too cute! Okay newborn pictures are a thing you must do. We wanted to remember how small and adorable she is forever. Our neighbor, Tailer Tuddenham was awesome enough to come over to our house for the photo shoot and take the pictures. Because of this, we turned out front room into a photo studio.

Brooklyn was perfect for the pictures. She was so alert with her eyes open and just looking at us the whole time without being fussy.  I love how all of the pictures turned out so it was hard to choose my favorite shots so here are quite a few of them:

These pictures of her in her blessing dress are so perfect. We even got a little smile in one of them. 

I love these mom and baby pictures. I have one with each of the kids at this age.

Dad and sister wanted to get some shots too.

After the blessing dress pictures, we took some fun ones in different outfits.

This one in the wagon is one of my favorites. Even though Brooklyn looks really long and too big for the doll wagon, I still thinks it is a fun picture.

Our friends gave us this purple floral swaddle blanket. It was so perfect for the pictures and she loved being wrapped tight in it. 

Here are her tiny hands and feet!

I love playing with Brooklyn's feet. Her little toes just curl around my fingers so it is fun to hold onto them.

Like I said before, I love all of these pictures. I think Tailer did a great job taking these photos. I can't believe Brooklyn is already two weeks old but these pictures will really help me remember how small she was as a newborn. Love you Baby!

2 Weeks Old

Can you believe this cute baby has been in our family for two weeks?   We just love her!

Brooklyn has really kept us busy these last two weeks.  We have been busy watching her sleep:

Holding her and loving on her:

Watching her play and lay around:

Talking to her as she looks at us:

And just plain enjoying having a baby to love on.  She has really changed our lives because now everything we do revolves around her.  To tell you the truth though, she is a really good baby.  She is not cranky unless it is bottle time, and she is a really good sleeper.  One thing that has been a learning curve is knowing how much and how often she is suppose to eat.  Since this is our first time bottle feeding, it is all new.  Bottle feeding is really nice though because everyone can help out.  The big kids love feeding her bottles and it is good they are building that bond.  

I have dealt with a little bit of postpartum depression in the last couple weeks.  I feel bad about it now but when she would cry, I would think, why did we have another baby?  I also felt like I was not bonding with her as I should.  One day I just broke down in tears because of these feelings.  I really had to pray for help and talk it out with Russell before I felt better.  Now I look back and I can't believe I had those feelings because I love this girl so much! We have really bonded too because she loves me the best!  I don't know if it was just lack of sleep or Satan or a combination of both but I really had to tell myself to get out of the pit and pull myself out with the help of Russell and the Lord.  I am much better now thankfully.  I can't stop looking at this sweet face and knowing how blessed I am.

This picture makes me laugh.  All of the doctors and mommy bloggers and everyone says Tummy time is really good for babies.  Well all of my kids have hated it!  This is what Brooklyn thinks of it... Baby Torture.  So yeah we do not do it as often as recommended.

Since Charlotte is now a big sister, she is now big and can make her own lunch.  She has really grown up since Brooklyn came home.  Charlotte sure loves her little sister... Sometimes a little too much.  It is fun to see them together though and hear Charlotte talking to Brooklyn.

Happy 2 weeks old Brooklyn.  Thank you for changing our lives for the better!

Butterflies & Pinewood Derbies

We have found fun traditions as a family and one of those is growing caterpillars into butterflies. We have done it for a couple years now and the kids think it is way cool to watch. We buy caterpillars with food in a container and they are all really tiny. We watch every week as they get bigger and bigger until they get big enough to make a cocoon on top of the lid.  Then we carefully move the lid into our butterfly cage and wait for them to transform into butterflies.  This usually takes about 10 days or so.  Then pop! The butterflies come out!  The butterflies stay in the cage for a few days sipping orange juice and strengthening their wings.  Then it is time to let them fly free.

This year we set 10 butterflies free.  This is the kids favorite part because they get to hold them and watch them fly.  

Usually the butterflies hang out for a minute and let us play with them but the butterflies this year were outta here.  As soon as we took them out of the cage, they flew from our fingers and were gone.  I guess they were ready to be free.  That was okay because it was still fun to watch them grow and fly.  

Another fun tradition we like to participate in is the Pinewood Derby.  This year Logan got to participate as part of his Activity Day group.  Together with the Deacons, they boys all had a great time.

Logan's car was not the fastest car but it sure was the best looking!  He wanted to make a car that looked like a shark.  So he and Colby worked together on the design, Russell cut it out for him, and he sanded and painted it to a shine.  Then I helped him paint the teeth and eyes on to make it look fierce.  It turned out amazing!

Logan loves his car.  This Pinewood Derby competition was pretty intense.  There were a lot of high tech cars designed by engineer dads that looked like they were going to smoke everyone.  In the end though, Kayleanne Cox, a sister to one of the boys and daughter of one of the leaders, actually won first place in the event!  We all congratulated the only girl in the competition. Colby brought his first place car from last year, and raced it after it was all done.  His car still held its own with the top cars but will retire as first place in its year.  The boys have already started designing their cars for the next Pinewood Derby.  They can't wait.

Brooklyn Tiffany Farnsworth

We would like to welcome the newest member of our family! Brooklyn Tiffany Farnsworth was born on April 9, 2021 at 6:39 pm. She weighed 7 pound 6 ounces and was 19 inches long. She is the cutest baby ever!! Okay I say that about all my babies but it's true.  Brooklyn is our surprise, miracle baby that we are so happy to have in our family. We thought that we were done after Charlotte especially after my battle with cancer. We thought the chemotherapy had zapped my ability to have any more kids but there was one more little spirit in heaven that needed to come down to us. She is definitely a blessing and a miracle.

Throughout this pregnancy, I felt really tired. I think I am just getting too old for this. I had similar pains like I had with Charlotte. My sciatica hurt so I couldn't sit for long periods of time and of course it was hard to sleep. It was fun to feel the baby move though and the kids loved feeling my belly to feel the baby kick. Sometimes she would kick so hard that you could see it from across the room! 

I was really worried thought out the pregnancy too. I don't know why but I was always wondering if everything was okay with the baby. I was constantly counting kicks and praying that the baby would be healthy and safe. Because of my age and health history, we did a few extra ultrasounds and checks to make sure everything was fine and thankfully the baby was always fine. 

The day finally came that it was time to deliver. Her actual due date was April 10th but we decided to be induced on the 9th because Russell had the weekend off and my parents came up to watch the other kids. The Labor and Delivery unit called us at 5:45 am and we were at the hospital by 6:30.

After getting checked in and dressed, the nurse came in to do my IV. It took two pokes for some reason. I hate getting an IV because people always have a hard time getting my veins. With the IV going with pitocin, it was time to wait for the contractions and baby to come.

The contractions did come but they were not really helping anything progress. In the meantime, Russell and I played Head's Up on his phone which is kind of like Catchphrase. We played, watched TV, and Russell studied. By 3:00, I was so tired. I was tired from getting up really early as well as dealing with contractions every two minutes for the last 7 hours. I still had only dilated to a 3 and was only about 80 percent effaced. So I hadn't progressed at all. 

I have never had an epidural before with any of the kids and I hadn't planned on one for this delivery either. After hearing I hadn't progressed at all, though, I realized I had a long way to go still. I decided to get the epidural for two reasons. First, I knew I had a ways to go and my mental game was not there anymore. Second, I was curious as to what it would be like to have an epidural. Since this would be my last pregnancy, I wanted to know what it was like.  The nurse and the anesthesiologist both told me how safe epidurals were and took every precaution.  I didn't even have to look at the needle and it really didn't even hurt to administer.  After that, the contractions were really weird feeling.  I could feel the contractions coming and going because my stomach would get hard but I could feel no pain.  It was great!  I was finally able to relax and they were able to up the pitocin a little bit.  Over the next couple hours, I was able to get some rest.  Because I wasn't as tense, my body finally decided it would progress with the delivery.  

By 6:00 pm, I was finally fully dilated and ready to deliver.  Once again though, like the other kids, this baby was facing the wrong way.  Instead of facing down to the floor, she was facing up to see the ceiling.  So, we still had to do some tricks, like lying on my side, to try and get the baby to turn.  Finally, she did turn a little bit so the delivery would be a little better. The doctor came in and it was time to push and have this baby.  Thanks to the epidural, I was still pretty comfortable.  I was more aware of what was going on with this delivery because I was not in so much pain.  This made the delivery completely different than the others. Typically by this point, I am just done and want the baby out, I don't want to talk or do anything but push.  This time though, I was actually interacting with the doctor and nurses.  At one point the doctor said, "Oh I can see her head and she has so much hair!"  I said "Oh good!" During previous deliveries, I would have thought "Who cares!"  Another cool thing about being more aware is that I actually had my eyes open and watched the baby be delivered!   It was seriously the coolest thing ever!  When the doctor laid this sweet little girl on my chest, everything was right in the world.  You have no idea the peace and love and awe inspiring feelings you have at that moment unless you have experienced it yourself.  It is unbelievable. 

Brooklyn was a perfect, healthy baby from the moment was born.  The nurses said she immediately pinked right up with her first breathe.  They said that was the fastest they had ever seen a baby pink up.  Because of that they gave her a perfect 10 on her Apgar Score.

She weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces and was 19 inches long.  Emily was my smallest baby weight wise but Brooklyn was my smallest baby length wise. We just love her!

While I got stitched up, and rested, Russell watched as Brooklyn got all cleaned up and bundled up.  She loved being swaddled and wrapped tight.  We especially love her cheeks and her double chin!

One downside to the epidural is that my legs were dead and I could not walk for a few hours afterward.  It was really funny because when the nurses told me to move my legs over to get in the wheelchair, my brain told my legs to move but I could not feel them move so I had to actually look down and ask the nurses if my legs had done anything.  It was so weird.  By the next morning though, my legs were back to normal.

Brooklyn was a perfect baby in the hospital, she slept and was a great little eater.  She sucked her bottles with no problem and ate 1 oz every couple hours like she should.  I am definitely going to have to get used to bottle feeding and knowing how much she is supposed to eat.

The next day, the nurse came in to give Brooklyn her first bath.  She hated it...

But she looked so cute afterward!  I love all of her dark hair!

I always said that none of my kids looked like me.  They all look like Russell.  Well, I think I finally got one that looks like me.  Above is a picture of Brooklyn next to a picture of me at the same age.  I think we look pretty similar!  

Russell and I were getting cabin fever sitting in the hospital all day.  We really wanted to just go home.  We knew we had to wait until Brooklyn was 24 hours old though so she could get all of her newborn screening tests done.  After that we asked if we could go home.  Because this was right at shift change, I think we kind of got forgotten.  Finally at about 7:30 we asked the new nurse if we could go and she said "Oh sorry!  Yes!"  She finished all of the discharge paperwork and we were on our way home with our new baby.

She was so tiny in her car seat!  We had to set it to the smallest size possible in order for it to fit.  Coming home was the best feeling.  All of the big kids were so happy to see their new little sister.  They wanted to hold her, hug her, and just love on her.  

This little one experienced so much love from all the kids. This must be what heaven will be like when we are reunited with all of our loved ones. I can't believe it!  They had been waiting so long for us to come home and due to Covid, they could not come to the hospital to see us.  It was definitely love at first sight for them.  I can imagine them all up in heaven before they were born, like in Saturday's Warrior, talking to each other and Brooklyn saying "Don't forget about me."  Today they were all united again!  It was so beautiful.

We sure love this little nugget and can't imagine our life without her now.  She is so sweet and precious.

I mean really, is there anything better than this?  Just look at that face.  

A lot of people have asked why we chose Brooklyn for her name.  To tell the truth, we just liked it.  I could never really pin down a name for her.  With Emily and Charlotte, I knew their names before I was even pregnant with them but it was different with Brooklyn.  One day Logan came home from school and said, "Why don't we name her Brooklyn?"  (He has a friend at school with that name.) When he said it, I thought, "Yeah, I like it!"  Plus, it went with Tiffany for the middle name.  I wanted to name her after me for selfish reasons obviously but also because I am the fifth child in my family and she is the fifth child in ours. So there you have it, Brooklyn Tiffany.  We sure love you Baby!