Dylan's first bath

Noah and Haley jumped at the chance to take a bath with Dylan. It was his first bath in the baby tub and he actually enjoyed himself.

Life is definitely more of an adventure with 3 :-)

The Bigs with Dylan

BIG BROTHER

BIG SISTER

They sure do LOVE their LITTLE brother...

A HUGE Help

Mema and Papu came into town this past week to meet Dylan for the first time and get some quality time in with us and the kids. They also went to Austin to see Brandon, Bekah, Logan and Eli. Needless to say, they spoiled me rotten with how much of a huge help they were...a constant attention for Noah and Haley, always helping with meals and the kitchen, and loving on sweet Dylan. It was a great visit and we definitely sent them back to Colorado exhausted for sure!! Noah and Haley already miss you so much. Thank you for coming to see us!!

Upon arriving, the kids woke up from naps to find sussies from Mema and Papu - too fun!!

Then Baby Dylan woke up and they got to hold their newest grandson!! Noah proudly introduced them to Dylan.

It was a gorgeous week, weather-wise, and the kids had a blast in the backyard.

We did get dinner out with just Mema and Papu (and Dylan).

Haley and Noah soaked up time with Mema and Papu.

Haley happily dressed up for Mema.

And after waiting patiently, Papu finally got some good hugs and kisses from Haley.

Mema and Noah playing matching game.

School Celebration

Noah went to school, the day after his birthday, with cupcakes for his class. He was a happy camper and quickly told his teachers that he was four years old!! Little did I know the royal treatment he would be getting from them!! Later that evening, I had an email from his teachers with these pictures!! What special teachers to love him so well and make him feel so special on his birthday. I am amazed!! The celebration continues...

This is one of my favorite pictures already - RED lips, just like his Daddy!!

Noah's Big Day

Q: What is the difference between the above picture and the below picture??
A: Noah is 3 years old above and 4 years old below!!

Can you believe it? We now have a four-year-old!!!

Noah woke up this past Wednesday and quickly saw the 4's that I had placed all throughout the house. "It's my birthday!!" he shouted. And the best birthday gift ever was having Mema and Papu there to celebrate the day with him (more pics to come from their visit.) We all watched while he walked all thru the house finding all the 4's (great idea, Caryn!!).

He's pretty proud to be 4...and already talking about turning 5 (slow down buddy!!)

Daddy had made an early morning run to get him donuts, a kolache, and choc milk for breakfast. He was super excited to eat his breakfast on his birthday plate. We lit 4 candles and sang away!!

At lunch time, he picked to go to McDonald's (yeah for us adults :-)...but he's the birthday boy so he got to go wherever he wanted.

Haley seemed to really enjoy this whole birthday thing and was much more into Noah's birthday than her own. She happily sung to her brother!!

Daddy came home early from work to celebrate with us. We opened some presents...hot wheels track, spygear binoculars, a rescue rope, a mini-basketball, and a digital camera!!

He also got lots of fun cards in the mail and a fun sussy from Nana and Daddad. You drop the capsules in the water and they expand into cars, trains, and trucks!! It was a fun activity.

And then after dinner, it was time for CUPCAKES to which the kids ran to the kitchen screaming with smiles!! They were in the shape of a 4 and Noah sure did notice!!

It was a great mess to end a great day celebrating a GREAT boy!!

First week with 3

I won't lie...it's been a little bit crazy at the Self household!! Daddy was home for a few days and then went back to work and Mommy is learning how to balance the needs of 3 little people. Noah and Haley are loving their little brother well and Dylan has been just next to a perfect baby - yeah Dylan!! Here are some pics from our first week at home...

Dylan loves to ball up in fetal position after nursing!!

First washcloth bath before his cord fell off.

Wide-eyed and awake!!

He's already got Daddy wrapped around his finger :-)

Kisses from Sissy!!

Back to the Lake

Our first weekend home with Dylan, both Haley and Noah went back to the lake with Grammy and Papa. And this time, their cousin Kate joined them, which was a special treat. They sure do love Kate!! Kudos to my parents for handling all three kids all weekend long. That's no small task for sure. It's so nice to know my kids are in great hands and having an absolute blast when they are with their Grammy and Papa.

Pizza picnic on the kitchen floor with chocolate bars!!

Haley - 2 and a quarter years old

Noah - almost 4 years old

Haley got her share of fun on the tire swing!!

My little climber

They found a very green frog!!

Off to the Zoo

While Dustin and I were in the hospital with Dylan, my Mom (aka Grammy) had Noah and Haley for the day. And of course, Grammy maximized her time with them to the fullest by taking them to the Ft Worth Zoo. They loved seeing all the animals and the weather was absolutely beautiful. Here are some pictures from their time together :-) Noah did not want to leave Grammy's house...I think one day with her was a tease and he's always wanting more!! Luckily, Grammy and Papa wanted both kids to go with them to the lake that first weekend we were home with Dylan. Those pictures to come on another post.

Boys will be Boys

This post of pictures is from October when Grammy and Papa took Noah and Carson to the lake for the weekend. I got the pictures from her camera and had a blast reliving the weekend thru the eyes of 2 three-year-old boys. Noah and Carson are only 2 months apart in age and LOVE being boys together, especially at the lake. Noah always wants to go to the lake with Grammy and Papa and gets very upset when it's time to go home. This was the first of many trips to the lake together as cousins...oh, the memories and bond that is already there.

Shooting nerf guns

Of course, there are always bugs involved :-)

Who says all you can do on swings is actually swing?

Taking walks, or runs rather...

Cars, cars, cars...

And more infamous binoculars...Noah is a huge fan!!

And boys have to wrestle, right??

Decorating cookies...Grammy makes the best cookies!!

Just sittin' on Papa's boat...

TOUGH GUYS

Shooting some hoops...

And the best of all, the tire swing...

And to slow them both down, a cartoon here and there...so everyone can keep their sanity!! All of that and more in one weekend - it's no wonder he comes home exhausted and very spoiled.

Thank you Grammy and Papa for a WONDERFUL weekend.

Reunited

After being home for almost two hours, it was time for Dustin to go pick up Noah and Haley from school. Neither of the kids knew that Mommy and baby Dylan were home. When they walked in the door, their eyes lit up in surprise and smiles filled their faces, and my heart melted. It was a sweet moment to hug them and start this journey of parenting three children. Noah and Haley welcomed home their baby brother and each took several turns holding him. He was such the trooper with them. Then we celebrated Dylan's birthday and Noah and Haley both opened gifts from their little brother. It was a fun celebration together as a family!!

Then I took my first nap with Dylan. It was a long day.

Going Home

Our time in the hospital was bittersweet. Although we were away from Noah and Haley and Mommy was in recovery, I really enjoyed time with just Dustin and Dylan as well as wonderful visits from dear friends and family. The nurses were super sweet and took good care of the us. I was telling everyone I felt like I was on a mini-vacation. Call me crazy!!


The day we went home was quite busy. Dylan got circumcised (poor guy) and then had his hearing test which he passed with flying colors.

By noonish, we were headed home with our new little one. Here are the last few pictures we took in the hospital.

When we got home, we had a pleasant surprise waiting for us from my dear friends Katie, Jill, and Andrea. They welcomed home Dylan with balloons, streamers and a sign.

We were just talking in the car about how much in the clouds we've been with Dylan's birth and this just topped the cake. Thank you sweet friends for loving us so well!!

Baby Caleb (not so baby anymore) and Paige were also there to see baby Dylan!!

Precious Moments

Our friend, Jarret, took some great photos of Dylan while visiting us in the hospital. These were definitely a gift for us that will continue to bring back the joy of Dylan's birth...Thank you Jarret!!

Meeting little brother

After moving to a post pardum room, our dear friends Aaron and Jill brought Noah and Haley up to the hospital to meet their new little brother. Thank you so much for loving our family in doing this - we were definitely missing our older two and wanting them to share in the joy of Dylan's arrival with us!!

Our last family of four picture

I couldn't wait to hug my Noah and Haley!!
They ran to jump in bed with their momma - it was super sweet.

We were all waiting very patiently for baby Dylan to arrive from the nursery. Noah and Haley were anxious to see him and kept asking where he was...

Then they wheeled him in and their eyes were glued...

Noah waiting patiently to "hold him."

Both kids were exhausted from all the day's events and it being close to 8pm already. I was surprised how affectionate Noah was and very interested in holding his baby brother. Haley was staring at him a lot, trying to not fall asleep herself :-)

Our new and improved family of five

Proud older brother

Sweet older sister

Dylan's Birth Story

*WARNING: This is a very long detailed post with lots of pictures

Around 2:00am on Tuesday, November 3rd, I woke up with contractions that appeared to be more like the "real thing." Up until this point, I was having lots of braxton hicks contractions with sporadic periods of mild contractions but nothing too painful or consistent. Contractions continued every 10 minutes for a few hours but were not progressing further. I finally went back to sleep for maybe an hour and woke up again at 5:30am with some much stronger contractions. Dustin heard my choppy breaths and woke up. I told him, "I think you will be meeting your baby today." I was confident this was it. Yep. I spoke too soon. Within the next hour or so, contractions just stopped. What? Really? All this time, I was frustrated with this "prodromal" or "false" labor that I was having when I remembered that this is exactly what happened before Noah's birth. This only added to my hunch that this baby was a boy.

We were headed to see my doctor that morning anyway, without an appt since we really thought that baby would have come by now. We packed the camera and video camera just in case we were sent to labor and delivery but both of us were not too optimistic. We later realized that even though we had everything else packed, we didn't bring anything else with us that morning. We got the kids ready - Noah was headed to school for the day and Haley was going to be with my friend Katie during the dr. appt. Both kids were so happy and very sweet to each other that morning. Maybe they knew today was the day?? I snapped a quick picture of them hugging.


All of my dr.'s staff was surprised to see me and the belly!! Baby's heartbeat was great, I had actually lost 3 lbs, and I was measuring 40 cm. When the dr. checked me, I was dilated to a 4!! Yeah!! At least all these come and go contractions were doing something. I asked him what he thought we should do and he said, "I think we should have a baby today!!" I smiled so big. "Really?" He explained further by saying that nothing good could come of me going home at this point. We have a healthy heartbeat, controlled environment, and I was in early labor. He said he would break my water and that would speed labor along instead of going home and waiting for contractions to pick up. He had many more concerns about me going home and laboring there, especially since this was my third.

Dustin and I talked and agreed that was the best decision. We would trust our doctor and the Lord with this day. All the thoughts going on in my head...This was definitely going to be a different birth story for sure, since both births with Noah and Haley I was well into active labor when I came into the hospital. I liked the idea of getting an epidural before contractions got too bad and already being at the hospital. And it helped that Noah and Haley were already taken care of for the day!! So we packed up our smiles and headed down to labor and delivery calling friends and family in route. I could not stop smiling. We were finally getting to meet our baby very soon!!

After lots of health questions, paperwork, and blood work, I was given my IV and soon an epidural (with a low drip just to take edge off). Dr. Fogwell, who is the BEST doctor ever, came in shortly after to break my water (1:20pm). Everything was going very smoothly and my sister and mother arrived to be a part of the birth. We were all able to visit while contractions picked up and I felt very little pain. And I absolutely LOVED my nurse - her name was Ann - and I wish I could have taken her home with me. She was yet another blessing in this story.

I even texted a few friends with an update and said "no pain." Again. I spoke too soon. Shortly after getting the epidural I started experiencing sharp pains in my lower neck and shoulders. The anesthesiologist was quick to say that the pain would subside. He thought it was probably due to the air space from the epidural. However, the pain did not go away but was much better when laying on my side so that's what I did while waiting to dialate.

I can't tell you how much I loved having my 3 favorite people with me during labor. Each of them are so special and made this day all the more better.

Oh baby, you are loved so much already.

A big thank you to Jen and Mom for helpin take pictures and video.

Dustin, Jen, Mom and Ann all took turns massaging my lower neck to help with the pain. It was getting worse but I kept reminding myself of all the heavy contractions that I was not feeling due to the epidural. In the meantime, the nurse went out a few times to try and get an explanation and remedy for my pain. We were somewhat surprised to find so many people without an exact answer. One theory was that the epidural catheder was irritating a nerve that was affecting my neck and shoulders. Another theory was that the air space had moved up my spine causing the irritation. It felt like something was affecting my nerves for sure and everyone was very concerned.

Around 4pm, my Dad showed up and the nurse checked me. I was at 9.5cm and ready to start pushing. He quickly bolted to the waiting room and we all laughed.

I kissed my honey as we got ready for "actual delivery."

I rolled to my back to start pushing and quickly rolled back to my side. Much too painful. We tried to do some pushes on my side when the nurse realized something had to change. I was feeling the need to push yet I was in so much pain from my neck/shoulders that I couldn't lie on my back to push. The anesthesiologist finally came in and gave me some narcotics thru the epidural that relieved some of the pain within about 10 minutes. I had pushed for about 45 minutes and baby was almost there when my neck pain started up again. I was screaming and crying in pain b/c I couldn't lay on my back to push any further but also felt extremely pressure to finish delivering this baby. I could see Dustin also crying with me. I greatly feared a c-section if the pain didn't go away. The anesthesiologist came in again and administered two more rounds of drugs and a final delivery dose in my epidural, which would later make me very nauseous sick. I quickly got another relief from the pain though was very sore from the pushing...it was all such a blur.

After an hour of pushing, baby was coming and everyone was anxious to know...and then everyone screamed "It's a boy!!" 5:08pm. More tears and a sigh of relief...

Dylan David Self was here.

Dr. Fogwell cut the cord and placed him in my arms.

We did it!! Thank you Lord!!

My hardest birth yet...but any pain that I was experiencing seemed minimal when I saw the miracle of this little boy.

They took out the epidural as soon as possible to help with the neck pain and it worked, thankfully.

Dylan weighed a healthy 8 lbs 8 oz and measured 20.5 inches long.

A very proud and emotional Daddy

Grammy's 7th grandchild

A 2nd nephew for Aunt Jen

Dustin went to the waiting room to share the news with Papa and Aunt Kris.

Dylan is named after his Papa's first name - David

This was a non-negotiable for Dustin when choosing our boy name.

His brother, Brandon's first boy is named after Dustin's dad - William and Dustin really wanted to honor my Dad by giving Dylan his name.

And Dylan may end up with Papa's blue eyes as well...

The infamous bottom lip that is consistent with all of our children that comes out on their birthday!!

My Aunt Kris and Aunt Krissy to the kids

By far, one of the BEST days of my life. And if I could, I would do it all over again...pain and all.

Dylan, we couldn't be more thrilled for you to be here. And we are honored, blessed, overwhelmed, and full of joy to be your Mommy and Daddy.

Happy Birthday, Son!!

I will thank you, Lord, with all my heart;

I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.

I will be filled with joy because of you.

I will sing praises to your name,

O Most High.

Psalm 9:1-2

So. In. Love.

The past two days have been absolutely wonderful...a new precious son and time with friends and family celebrating his birthday. We are so in love with this sweet boy. He's perfect in every way and we just stare in wonder at our amazing God that creates life so beautifully. Here are some pictures of our Dylan and our time together just taking it all in...


More posts to come of his birth story and and the sweet story of Dylan meeting his older brother Noah and older sister Haley. They, too, are in love. Here is our first picture as a family of 5!!

Dylan David Self has arrived!!!

We are happy to announce the arrival of Dylan David Self! He was born today, November 3rd, at 5:08pm. He is 8 pounds 8 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. Mommy and baby are doing great! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Getting ready to push!!!!

Should be within an hour!!!!! (correction - more like within 4 hours!!!!)

We are in Labor & Delivery now!

Daddy here! Karla is dialated to a 4! They will be breaking her water soon to get this "puppy" out! (Katie, one of our friends that is babysitting Haley for us, asked Haley whether she wanted a brother or sister, and Haley replied, "I want a doggy!"....silly girl....)

40 weeks...

So my due date(s) came and went this weekend and the baby has stayed put. We are now in uncharted territory and at this point, I have no idea when this baby is coming. Not that I did before, but I definitely tried to reason and take a guess after thinking thru my experiences with Noah and Haley, doctor's comments, and what my body has appeared to have been telling me. But again, I am reminded that "His ways are not my ways, His thoughts not my thoughts." God is the giver of life and He is in control. Complete. Control.

We are happy and healthy and enjoying our time together as a family as we wait. "Being in a constant state of limbo" is a challenge for sure but I have been taking my daily doses of patience and trust in Him. We celebrated this new life amongst all our blessings and praised our Jesus this morning in one of the best worship services ever at church. What an amazing way to start the day and gain a greater perspective on how BIG our God truly is. When we got home, Dustin took a few more pics of me with Noah and Haley and the growing baby belly.

My first big baby and great older brother

My second big baby and sweet little and big sister

And this baby needs to come because I am so done with posting pics of myself and especially this enormous belly :-)

Trick-or-Treat with Cousins

Our tradition for Halloween is to go to the Bailey's house. They host several couples and all their kiddos for dinner, desserts, and trick-or-treating. Their neighborhood has so many kids that lots of people come and park along the streets just to trick-or-treat there. We headed over early to help them prepare for the evening festivities and let the cousins all play together. Noah and Haley went non-stop from about 4:30pm to 9:00pm when we finally put them in the car to go home.
When the sun went down, the kids started to come and then we left shortly after with about 10-15 kids and their parents thru the neighborhood. Sadly, we didn't manage to get an "all-kid" picture - it was just too chaotic!! Noah and Haley were on cloud nine the entire evening running from house to house, or shall I say "flying" superman and supergirl style. Haley got lots more candy "for looking so cute." It was hilarious!! We walked what seemed like miles to this preggo momma but I got some good exercise for sure. I was surprised how long the kids lasted going from house to house. They were such troopers and enjoyed every minute. Haley kept saying "more candy" and that's exactly what we have at our house now, "more and more candy." If you want or need some, feel free to drop by :-)

Haley gave up on the last few houses and wanted Aunt Jen to carry her :-) All in all, it was an absolute BLAST - thank you Aunt Jen and Uncle Andy for hosting an AWESOME Halloween!!

Update: Waiting

I just realized that I didn't post that we decided to cancel the induction for this morning and wait it out thru the weekend. We'll see if this baby can come on his/her own....thank you for your prayers!!

39.5 and "Thriving"

I am 39.5 weeks and fast approaching this "due" weekend. I went to see our little baby on a sonogram today before my checkup with the doctor. It was a biophysical sonogram that measures baby, checks baby activity and heart rate, fluid levels, blood pressure, placenta, and so on...lots of information for sure. I was trying hard not to look at the sono screen for fear of learning the sex when we've been so patient in waiting up to this point. The sonographer said "Baby is perfect and thriving!!" Music to my ears. She estimated between 8 and 9lbs and and kept saying the baby was long, maybe 21.5 inches?? She also told me there was no medical reason to be admitted to labor and delivery today. Baby is fat and happy!!

On to see the doctor...I am 1 cm dilated, which is what I was with both Noah and Haley at this point, no surprise there. I had gained 3 lbs in one week (yeah!!) and was measuring 39 cm. He did strip my membranes to try and move things along - this was extremely painful. I don't remember it being this bad when I had it done with Haley around the same time in my pregnancy. He thinks it will be very effective to put me into labor, as it was with Haley so we will see...not sure yet if we'll be induced this Friday or if we'll wait out the weekend.

Stay tuned...

The fun in waiting...

The past couple weeks, we've had nothing on the calendar waiting for baby's arrival and God has used that time for good - to get a few more things done around the house and to get some special time in with Noah and Haley. It's been nice to not have anything on the calendar and be spontaneous with our monkeys. Here are some pics from our time together!!

Hopscotch with Daddy

Saturday morning Chick-fil-a with Carson and Kate!

Special trip to the new Heights Park in Richardson with a rocket ship, steep slides, and a giant sandbox. Noah and Haley had a blast!!

Noah LOVING his newest hat!!

Haley LOVING her hot pink cowgirl boots!! She puts them on with everything.

Playtime with Katie and Julia at Willow Bend Mall (rain, rain, go away!!)

Big Sister playing dress-up (always a favorite)

Noah with his "rescue rope" (aka jump rope)...not to worry, he's getting a REAL rescue rope for his 4th birthday :-)

And last by not least, movie night watching "Toy Story" with Daddy

My "SUPER" Family

Now Presenting "SUPER" girl, "SUPER" Man, and "SUPER" boy

Today, we went to Daddy's work for some good ole' Merit trick-or-treating!! It's one of our favorite events that Merit hosts. The kids were beyond excited about putting on their costumes and getting some early Halloween candy.

Noah,

You are definitely our "SUPER" boy!! You are full of adventure and energy, very compassionate, a sponge when it comes to learning, and a lot of fun to be around. We love you so much!!

And Haley girl,
You are our "SUPER" girl - very cuddly, with lots of spunk and expressions, still some drama, and a laugh that makes anyone smile. We love you so much!!



And here is Jackson (above), pumpkin to William and Katie, and Luke (below), Curious George to Russ and Amy. Both William and Russ also work at Merit with Dustin and also go to Watermark Community Church with us!!

Let the trick-or-treating begin!!

There were kids everywhere and the candy was endless...Noah and Haley easily filled up each of their buckets. Folks commented on us being the "SUPER" family but looked surprised that I was not "in SUPER costume." And I would reply, "I am SUPER pregnant!!" We got lots of laughs and nodding heads in agreement since I am due next week. Wish I would have put the "S" symbol on my belly because I am certain we are going to have a "SUPER" baby as well.

Cupcakes and juice for everyone after all the hard work of trick-or-treating!!

And of course, I can't leave out my "SUPER" man who holds this "SUPER" family together.

Dustin, you are hard-working, passionate and motivated, stinkin' smart, and extremely good looking. We love you so much babe!!

Happy Early Halloween to All!!

Noah's School

Noah is really enjoying his school this year and new teachers, Mrs. Angela and Mrs. Susan. They are truly wonderful and pour into him each week so selflessly. They have also taken pictures of each of the kids in their class and shared them with us parents, which is also a gift. It's fun to see him in that environment with his friends there that he talks about all the time. Here's a few of the pictures since he started in early September.

One week the Richardson Police Department and then the Richardson Fire Department came to talk with the kids about safety and they got to get on the big fire truck!! This was a big surprise for Noah!!

Always a creative craft to do!!

And this last picture, though odd, shows that he wore his train conductor hat for crazy hair/crazy hat day!!