Looking at Liberty

Well, this picture didn't turn out as great as I had hoped. I think it was the angle and the goofy face Makenna was making. So I cropped it strange to cut her out. And so this is what I was left with. Mason and Dad laying on the bed to look at Liberty and still keep their distance. Mason had been playing in the dirty garage just after a bath so not sure how clean he was. He sure loves his little sister!

Liberty is finally home!

Well, we brought Liberty home at lunch time today. She is home with an oxygen tank and one of those nasal cannulas but at least she is home. And after nursing her the last few days with so many wires attached to her this is cake. So I didn't take any photos of her coming home since Makenna and Amy were at school and William had to rush back to work. And of course I needed to keep a really close eye on Mason. He wants to squeeze her and he is so rough. And he is also really wanting to rip off that tubing. Anyway, I am exhausted. I will take a picture of Mason and Liberty and post it soon. Oh yeah and I still have no pictures with Liberty and Daddy! Bad mommy!

Snow in September, YIKES!!!

Ok Last year the weather took it easy on us. And everyone told us we brought the heat with us here. This morning I got up to go feed the baby at the hospital and overheard two men talking about the weather. One man said, "I don't ever remember it getting this cold this soon." Oh boy I am in for one rough winter. William is getting excited cause he loves the snow. If you ask me today I am miserable. Besides it raining for three days and me having to be in and out of it going to and from the hospital, it has been overcast and dreary. AND, I am coming down with a sinus crud that I am trying to get rid of with over the counter meds. I sure hope it isn't something big that needs more than that. I can't get sick right before Liberty comes home.

Speaking of Liberty, she doesn't get to come home today like I hoped for. Her CRP count lower but still too high to come home. Maybe tomorrow. And the nurses have been really successful weaning her off the oxygen. Yesterday she was on 120 (ml's I think) and this morning she was down to 90. This afternoon when I went to feed her the nurse said she had her down to 50 and when she tried 40 she started acting distressed. So we are hanging out at that number a little while longer and will try to wean a little more through the night I guess.

Anyway, this is what I woke up to this morning. SNOW IN SEPTEMBER!!!

Liberty meets her sisters...FINALLY!

Well, the girls finally had THEIR big day. I got to take each one of them in one at a time to hold Liberty. That was a huge thing since they only let ages 14 and older into the NICU. I got lucky I guess. So anyway, here are some pictures of Makenna, Amy and Emily with their new baby sister. Emily thought it was so cool that she got to be first since Amy and Makenna had to go to school. Lucky!




I love the look on Emily's face. She was so excited I gave her a little sister.


Makenna didn't get to hold her as long since it took forever to feed Liberty this time. She was worn out from the day and wanted to sleep through her feeding. Don't worry Makenna. You will hold her a ton while helping me around the house.

Amy got the most quality time with Liberty since she was wide awake for almost the whole visit. She just stared at Amy like she already knew Amy's voice. It was great!

Liberty Update...

Well, as you know Liberty stayed in the hospital and has been on oxygen. Well, she has gradually gotten worse before she has gotten better. She needed a couple of doses of meds to strengthen her lungs and then they removed the breathing tubes. Her lungs are doing wonderful now. However, they have cultered her blood for infections and couldn't find anything. Her regular blood tests though show one of her counts that tells you there is an infection in her somewhere is elevated too high to come home. She has been on a course of antibiotics and seems to be feeling ok. She just has to wait until that number comes down before they will stop the IV antibiotics and send her home. So while we wait for her to get better I am finally able to go to feed her at the hospital. That gets a little inconvenient but she nurses way better than being bottle fed. HALLELUJAH! That's gonna save me some cash. Every day that I have been to the hospital it seems to be that she is doing better but more bad news to keep her there longer. So here's to good news when I go in this morning to feed her! Have a great day. Oh and the upside to this is I get to sleep at least 5 hours at night before having to get up and pump. So no sleep depravation has hit me yet. Yeah!

The girls are dying to get a chance to hold her. Here is a picture I took of Emily watching her through the window of the NICU...


And thanks to my neighbors Jordan and Caryn for this special treat.

Welcome Miss Liberty!!!

Well, I finally had our baby. It was another beautiful little girl. Her name is Liberty Ella Payne since she was born on 9-11. The big difference with this one is that she has a bunch of peach fuzz for hair instead of being almost totally bald. Oh and her head is really round not egg shaped like my other kids. Here are some pictures from her first moments of life...


She weighed in at a whopping 7 pds 6 oz. I wonder what she would have weighed if I carried her 3 more weeks to my due date.



Holy Smokes! 20 inches long too. No wonder I felt over due. I was carrying another large preemie. Hee hee!



Here she is after her first bath and her first photo shoot. Check out that blonde peach fuzz hair. Oh it still has a tint of red like Grandma Payne. Her eyes seem to be grey right now. That is how Amy and Mason were. Amy's turned blue and Mason's turned brown. So we will have to wait to see what color hers will turn.


And the big news is that she has under developed lungs. Her bronchioles are sticking together when she breathes. So I have been able to hold her but only in the NICU and I haven't been able to try and feed her yet since she is breathing way too fast. The doctor is afraid she will choke. So one of those tubes goes to her lungs and one is a feeding tube. She has been so sleepy that she won't even suck on a binky. So before she can come home she has to be able to breathe well and eat well. She was given a medicine for her lungs this afternoon and so they are pretty optimistic that she will most likely be off the breathing tubes by some time tomorrow. Then they have to wait for her breathing to slow down before they will try to feed her without the tube. While I wait I am pumping like crazy and taking the syringes to the NICU. She still only eats about 10 mls at a time since my milk hasn't come in yet. We appreciate all the thoughts and well wishes we have already gotten and hope that we can bring our little one home soon. Please pray for her!

Finally having real contractions...

I am not getting my hopes up but I am heading to the hospital as soon as I take a shower. I have timed them for an hour at 4 -6 minutes apart. So I guess I will update you all soon. Wish me luck and pray the contractions don't quit as soon as they hook me to the monitors. (My luck)

I have been tagged!

Thanks Tammi for including me in on the fun. Here are my answers...

IF YOU COULD BUILD A HOUSE ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD IT BE? My same neighborhood, bigger lot.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING? Don't really have one. I hate my clothes and need a makeover.

FAVORITE PHYSICAL FEATURE OF THE OPPOSITE SEX? Hands and shoulders

WHAT'S THE LAST CD YOU BOUGHT? I think it was a Karaoke one a couple years ago. YIKES!

WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO BE? right now it is my garden with my girls.

WHERE'S YOUR LEAST FAVORITE PLACE TO BE? I really can't stand being in line at Walmart. I always wait at least 30 mins to check out.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO BE MASSAGED? My lower back right now. But otherwise it has always been my neck and shoulders and feet. I guess everywhere.

STRONG IN MIND OR STRONG IN BODY? I used to be crazy strong for a girl. Not sure now after being pregnant 5 times. But I am strong willed too.

WHAT TIME DO YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING? I usually get up around 8 am. 9 am when there is no school. That should change any day now.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE KITCHEN APPLIANCE? I love my veggie steamerand my toaster oven.

WHAT MAKES YOU REALLY ANGRY? Oh it has to be when my kids get into things and don't clean up after themselves(Makenna).

IF YOU COULD PLAY AN INSTRUMENT, WHAT WOULD IT BE? The piano

FAVORITE COLOR? Pink hands down. My second fav is yellow.

WHICH DO YOU PREFER, SPORTS CAR OR SUV? SUV,With all my kids I have to be realistic.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN AN AFTERLIFE? Yes.

FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOK? Guess how much I love you or The Kissing Hand

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? In AZ it was Winter. In Utah it is Fall for sure. Such beautiful colors.

WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE HOUSEHOLD CHORE? Cleaning the shower and tubs

IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE SUPER POWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE? I want to fly. or maybe stretch like Mrs. Incredible

IF YOU HAVE A TATTOO - WHAT IS IT AND WHERE IS IT? NO!

CAN YOU JUGGLE? Nope

THE ONE PERSON FROM YOUR PAST YOU WISH YOU COULD GO BACK AND TALK TO? Hmmm...that is a tough one. No one really from my past but I would love to talk to some historical people.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE DAY? Saturday, whole family plays and has fun together. Never much on the schedule for that day.

WHAT'S IN THE TRUNK OF YOUR CAR? A car seat for the new baby and a stroller for Mason.

WHICH DO YOU PREFER, SUSHI OR HAMBURGER? A Big Blue Burger from A&W. YUM!!!

Ok next up is Ranae Harriman and Tami Floyd. Have fun gals!!!

Can Grandma break the rules?

So when my mom was here visiting I took a really cute picture. Well several actually. While I was getting ready to go shopping Grandma and Emily were in the bathroom and Grandma decided it was ok to give Emily a makeover. She did it all blush, eye shadow, lipstick and even mascara. Oh and I can't forget the lotion that smelled so pretty. Emily thought it was the greatest thing. And when I walked in and saw her I said to Emily, "Ooh Grandma's breaking the rules." Grandma replied, "grandmas are allowed." So I left it at that and let her leave the house with makeup on. Thank goodness Emily realized that it was just because Grandma was here and she hasn't asked to wear make up yet since. Anyway, here is one of the cute pictures I took...

Here is the nightlight I made for Mason's bedroom yesterday and for an altered art challenge at Keepsake Trends. It took me about 10 minutes to make it and Mason absolutely loved it. He is so crazy about tractors. I am starting his John Deere bedding this week. So I will be pretty busy trying to pass time before having this baby.

I made this page for Tami's ad challenge at Keepsake Trends. I can't believe I have found some time to play for myself. That feels so good.


My family came to visit on Monday night and stayed until Friday afternoon. It was such a great visit. I don't usually get to spend quality time with my mom so this was nice. We shopped quite a bit on Thursday and Friday. Casey reported to the Mission Training Center on Wednesday. He is heading to Lisban, Portugal in a couple of months to serve a mission for our church. Hillary went shopping with us too and she kept me laughing most of the time she was here. We miss you already Casey and hope you don't get too homesick. We will write soon!

The Freak Show...

Ok I have been promising this picture to friends and family for a while now. Here I am at 35 weeks. 4 more days and I am free to have this baby whenever the baby decides to come. I am now hoping to wait until after Friday since Makenna has a meeting for parents of new Orchestra students on Thursday. I need to be there for that if I can. Sending William is just not a great option. I will do it if I have to but I want to be there. So what do you think of this belly? Quite a freakish site isn't it? I can't believe the doc says I am measuring slightly smaller than I should be. That is a first for me. Out of five kids this is the only one to measure small. Now that measurement is just of my uterus. It could be totally wrong if they do an ultrasound and measure the actual baby. I swear this belly looks like I am going to pop.

Funny story...Yesterday my mom, sister Hillary and I went to the post office to mail cookies to my brother. My mom stayed in the car with the kids and Hillary and I went in. There were two young guys in the truck next to us that my mom watched them follow us with their eyes all the way into the building. When we got back into the car my mom told us about how they were staring us down. She said there was a toddler in the truck so I assume he was married. And my mom thought they were checking out my little sister. Well, Hillary and I decided that they were actually checking out the Freak Show walking with the hot chic. I get stares like that everywhere I go now.