Goodbye...

Goodbye heart burn.

Goodbye 3am potty trips.

Goodbye compression stockings.

Goodbye man hands and poor circulation.

Goodbye breathlessness.

Goodbye pregnancy!!

Hello Baby Hazel!!

Hazel made her grand entrance into the world on December 21st. and did she ever come in with a BANG! Our origional due date was the 17th. We had no idea she'd take all the time in the world to come. Luckily, our doctor tentatively scheduled an induction for the 21st so we wouldn't have to spend Christmas in the hospital. The morning of the 21st (yes, the first day of winter), we woke up to piles and piles of snow. We were late getting to the hospital because it took some serious time digging out the truck. Of course it was a process getting going at the hospital. For hours and hours there was no sign of progress. And still... it kept storming and we kept waiting for something interesting to happen. And happen it did. no baby. but the power went off...in the hospital. Casey and I exchanged worried glances, and the generators soon kicked in. Luckily it was only off for 15-20 min.

So we kept waiting. The nurses kept predicting a midnight baby. We were going nowhere, and we were getting bored. I finally sent Casey home to get a movie to entertain us at about one in the afternoon. And, of course, that's when the magic started to happen. At about three o'clock, we were only minutes into A Christmas Story when I told Casey to shut it off. The contractions were coming fast. Too fast. The nurses had to turn the pitosin down so the baby could rest in between. But they didn't slow down, they only got stronger. Soon the nurse decided she better check me, and I was fully dialated. At that point it was just a rush to get the doc there in time. It was a few moments of chaos and scrambling, and shortly after (4:16), Baby Hazel was born. Healthy and beautiful, and we love her!!

Our families had to wait a day to come up and see her because the roads we TERRIBLE. In fact, Provo Canyon closed at one point. It was so great to have both of our parents at the hospital the next day.

Just before leaving for the hospital...

Right after she got cleaned up. We couldn't believe all of her hair after they had washed it. We almost made the nurses check her feet tags to be sure she was ours.

Dillon's first encounter with Hazel. He likes her, but sometimes won't acknowledge her at all. She's just not a big deal to him.

The proud papa. I love him!!

Love this picture... a tender moment Christmas eve morning, just after Dillon had opened his Christmas jammies. He wasn't at all disappointed in his new tractor apparel, by the way.

We really just adore her! Christmas was a little different this year, of course. But it was great to have a few days with just our little family. Casey had several days off from work, and it was so nice to just sit at home and enjoy our new addition. That extra help from Casey was also much appreciated. I couldn't have done it without him...