Welcome Home, Baby Rocky!

The nurses at the hospital seemed surprised that we would be ready to return home to our waiting crew of rowdy boys after just one "restful" night at the hospital, but after one night of having our vitals checked every two hours, our blood drawn several times, and nurses poking in and out, we decided we'd be better off taking our chances at home. Boy did we have quite the welcoming committee of four very exuberant little boys, all anxious to have their turn examining and holding their new brother.

It doesn't look like Rocky is too much worse for the wear after all of the "love" he received from his brothers:

Our Family is Complete!

Welcome to Our Family, Rockwell "Rocky" Thomas Grover!

- Arrived on October 12th, 2013 at 8:36 a.m. weighing 7lbs 12oz and measuring 21" long - 

The Birth Story:

It must be one of Heavenly Father's subtle showings of his sense of humor that for as much as I kept telling people throughout my entire pregnancy that I wasn't in any hurry for this baby to get here and I felt no rush to add a new baby to my already heavy workload, when it finally came down to that last week of my pregnancy I was READY!...and wouldn't you know it? Baby took his sweet time getting here. That final week was torture! I spent each day killing myself getting ready for his imminent arrival doing all sorts of household chores, like cleaning out my refrigerator and mowing the lawn (that was a sight to see, I'm sure!), in a crazed attempt to persuade this baby to speed things up. Like clockwork, I would be awakened each morning at 2:45 a.m. to strong contractions and immediately start making a mental plan of things to do and things to pack. Just about the time I was ready to put down my stop watch and start preparing to go to the hospital, the contractions would slow down and fizzle out....and I would start the entire agonizing process all over again the next day. At one point, on my actual due date, the contractions became so intense and at regular intervals that we called in Nana Grover to have the boys spend the night and we hastily got ready to head to the hospital--again, just another tease. Finally, when those contractions started back up on Saturday morning (2 very long days post due-date), I decided to just go to the hospital and cross my fingers that the nurses would take pity on me and admit me. Interestingly, once the decision had been made that this was it and we were going to the hospital no matter what, those contractions just cooperated beautifully and my labor took off lightening fast. Aaron has always dreamed about having the license to speed down the freeway, ignoring traffic laws, to race me to the hospital--that morning, he got his wish! At 6am we rushed to the hospital, flying through red lights and ignoring stop signs.

40 weeks and 2 days

Once we arrived at the hospital, the nurse checked my cervix and I was dilated to a 6.5. We knew we didn't have much time to mess around, so the nurses quickly called my doctor and the anesthesiologist and then began placing my I.V. It turns out that I must have freakishly small veins, because it took 5 nurses, 1 anesthesiologist, six failed attempts, and an hour and a half to get an IV started. Suffice it to say, spending an hour and a half having my arms used as pin cushions, all the while in active labor, is not the most pleasant experience. Once the IV was in, the anesthesiologist was able to start the epidural and I finally felt a little relief. Soon after, my doctor arrived, my water was ruptured, and it was time to push! There is no need to relive that moment of pure torture--and it WAS excruciating--because with just a few pushes I was rewarded with my beautiful, perfect, sweet little son.

I recognized that sweet little face right away because it came from the same mold: he shares his brothers' dark hair and perfectly round button nose, his Daddy's forehead, and his Mom's plump lips.

I will admit, I had some serious concerns about how I would feel when this baby was born...how would I possibly be able to care for FIVE human beings? I haven't figured out the answer to that question, but after taking one look at him, I knew it didn't matter. He is mine. I loved him instantly and I love him deeply. The rest will have to work itself out. I've got a precious baby to snuggle and cuddle and I can't think of anything that matters more to me than that.

There is nothing more sweet than holding a fresh-from-heaven newborn baby. I fell in love in that first moment, and I haven't been able to stop kissing that handsome little face since. So sweet!

Tell me he isn't Aaron's "mini-me."

Ten perfect fingers, and ten perfect toes.

Little Baby Rocky was very tolerant about receiving a visit from his very excited older brothers. Hank and Max were very sweet and couldn't get enough turns holding their new little brother. Ben was creeped out by being in the hospital (and I don't blame him one bit), and Joey was oblivious to the baby but was pretty interested in rolling the chair on wheels and pushing all the buttons on the equipment. Rocky is one lucky little boy to have so many brothers to take care of him and protect him.

Seven is Heaven!

The hospital treated us to a fancy in-room "celebration dinner" complete with sparkling cider. The food wasn't anything to get excited about, but I will always remember the feeling of total contentment that I felt as Aaron and I toasted to our beautiful new son and our family being complete. So blessed!

Snaggle Tooth

Hank's front tooth has been wiggly for the past two months, but for some reason, Hank hasn't been in a hurry to pull it out. So the tooth just hung, all loose and dangley, in the front of his mouth. The tooth just hung by a thread until Aaron finally convinced Hank it was time to pull it out. It didn't take much pulling for that little tooth to snap out: 

General Conference Weekend

How do you not only keep a bunch of rambunctious boys quiet for an eight-hour TV marathon of church speakers, but convince them that doing so is "fun?" Believe me, it is no easy task. With the help of homemade cinnamon rolls, a game of "General Conference Bingo" (with treats for prizes), LDS ipad apps, and a homemade dry-erase conference binder, Hank and Max stayed happily occupied for the majority of the conference sessions so that Aaron and I could actually enjoy listening to the speakers! It was glorious to spend the weekend together taking in the messages of our church leaders and building a tradition with our children that will hopefully help them to come to love this special weekend as well.

Ok, so it wasn't all reverent, arm-folded listening....there may have been some brotherly wrestling matches here and there.

October is Here!

When I look back on my blog, I'm sure half of the posts will be about going to some park or another...but that's my life! I've got lots of active little boys and I love to be outdoors so the park is like our second home. We go to the park almost daily, so it doesn't even really seem post-worthy, except that our outing this morning was just too beautiful not to document. October is such a lovely month with perfectly cool mornings and sunny afternoons that I just try to soak in as much time outdoors before the weather turns cold as I can. As I know I will be spending more time indoors cuddling with my new little one very soon, enjoying the morning with my dudes at the park on this perfect autumn morning felt like a memory to treasure.

Family Time

The pictures aren't really much to look at, but they serve to represent a fun memory that we made together last weekend when the Children's Museum offered a free admission day. We take the boys on many outings and they've even been to this particular museum several times, but what made it so special was that this time everyone got to play and have fun...no one watching the fun from the stroller, no one left out. One of the challenges that I have struggled with lately, especially over the summertime, was feeling like our family was polarized by two different ability ranges. Although I refuse to let the gap in abilities hold us back, certain activities become much more difficult when you have two older children who are active and independent and two younger children who require more assistance. Swimming, hiking, riding bikes, you name it....all activities that become that much harder when you're torn between keeping up with two on-the-go kids and two still-needs-help kids. So anyways, I felt like it was such a treat to take the kids to the Children's Museum and all be able to enjoy the same activity together.

As a side note, another thing that made this little excursion, very ordinary in itself, so memorable for me was that despite the many things we could have been doing with our time on our busy Saturday afternoon, we made the choice to just do something fun and make a memory together. Certainly there are those weekends where errands must be done, tasks must be attended to, and duty calls, but sometimes I think it is a treat to just spend our Saturday playing! I'm grateful to have a partner who is willing to spend his free time taking his sons to the museum and cheering them on at their soccer games, only to come home tired and then take care of his household/yard maintenance responsibilities.

The Buddy System

Earlier this year, as somewhat of a survival strategy, I had the inspired idea to assign Hank and Max a brother to be their "buddy." I put Hank in charge of Ben and asked Max to be in charge of Joey. I explained to them that they would be responsible to help their buddy with tasks like putting on their shoes, buckling them in their car seats, and holding their hands in the parking lot. Since there is only one of me, and so many needs to take care of, I put the buddy-system in place just so that we could semi-function. I really didn't expect that Hank and Max would take their assignments to heart; not only do they help their buddies with the tasks that I require of them, they have developed the sweetest little connection with their junior buddy through loving and serving them. I hope that even as Ben and Joey get older and are able to do more things for themselves they will always feel this special connection with their older brother/buddy.