Our Christmas

 This year we got an Elf from Grandma and Grandpa Hymas 

for the 12 days of Christmas.

Every night the elf, named Trevor, got into things,

then he would hide the green bag for the kids.

One night he hid in the tub after having a beach party with Barbie.

On Christmas Eve we lit candles and read bits of Luke 2.

Then we watched a movie about it.

The kids were pretty eager to get to bed and very excited, 

as you can see on Elizabeth's face.

On Christmas Eve night, me and Brett finished up painting the train table

Brett made for the kids.

Luckily the baby slept well that night, so I was able to help finish it up.

This is what it looked like before the finishing touches.

And this is the finished product.  :)

It was fun to help Brett with one of his projects this time.

Kid's perspective..

Little cubbies built into the legs..

 All set for Christmas,

with Santa's stockings and all.

Isaac was pretty determined to get up early on Christmas day,

but then he ended up getting up later than usual, like around 8:15ish.

What the kids did first thing after getting up.

They were pretty excited.

 Can't see it too well, but we had the virtual fireplace going on

our computer with some Christmas music.

We also had the window open as it was a nice snowfall outside.

What an awesome Christmas!

It was pretty funny when the most excited each of them got 

was over the oranges they received in their stockings.

Elizabeth even screamed with excitement.  :b

This was the beginning of the present opening.

Elizabeth thought it was a good idea to wear her leotard for such an occasion..

 This was the end.  After Ethan's nap he was able to open

the rest of the things he got (after we had lunch).

It was nice because after each present the kids opened, 

they played with that thing for a while.

So it took us a few hours to get through all the presents.

Little Mr. Ethan hung out, watching the excitement.

Here's some of the things the kids got.

 All in all it was a good Christmas day,

even though Mommy ended up getting sick through the last half.

But Daddy was nice enough to let her have a nice nap.

And here's Mommy and Daddy's cute little early Christmas present.

-Our little Ethan boy.  :)

Christmas, We're Ready For Ya

 Isaac had his little Kindergarten Program tonight.

He looks pretty thrilled.  :b

The poor guy was rather sick today, so I don't think he felt good

as he was up there.

It was cute though.

We enjoyed it.

Last Saturday we took the kids to see Santa.

Luckily at the Springville Theatre, 

Santa likes to make a visit and usually no one is there, 

so no lines to visit.

(And I'm pretty sure it's the real one that comes every year.)

 When we got there, all the kids were scared to go up to him.

-So baby Ethan got to go first.  :)

Then the kids warmed up real quick after that.

 Isaac told Santa about the "reindeer" we saw on the way up to see him.

They ran right past our car and turned down our street,

so Brett told the kids they were checking out our house before Christmas.

Santa was so glad Isaac found them because he said he lost 3 reindeer and now

they were found.  :)

 Isaac said he wanted a Rescue Bot for Christmas.

Santa was a little confused until Daddy hinted that was a Transformer..

Elizabeth was a little nervous at first, but when they got to talking

about her sparkly boots, she was thrilled to talk.

 She told Santa she wanted a pet monkey for Christmas.

The poor girl had to be shot down as Santa told her 

he would probably jump out of the sleigh on the way to our house.

My Cutie Girl

Ashlyn didn't want anything in particular from Santa.

She just softly answered that she would like a present.

My Sweet Angel

We're all surprisingly calm in this picture.

Usn's

 We've got our snow..

Now we just need Christmas.  :)

(Elizabeth enjoying the snow)

Photo Shoot

 

 These are the curl-up lips he makes when he wants milk..

 Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

 Monster boy.  Raaaar!

1 Month Old

Ethan's Blessing

A couple weeks ago (Nov. 11) we blessed Baby Ethan.

The day before that, Grandma and Grandpa Hymas dropped in 

for a visit.  The next day was Grandpa's birthday, 

so we sang the merry ol' tune "Happy Birthday."  

Grandpa did well at blowing out his two candles on his Finding Nemo cake. 

Way to do it Grandpa!!

 

Here's grandma with the babe.

 

 

Look at that handsome little guy in a tux!

Angel guy

Our growing family

With grandma and Grandpa Hymas, and a proud brother..

Aunt Bev

Grandma and Grandpa Peel

Kristen and Doug Burns (Staci's sister and her husband)

I should have gotten pictures of Emily and Nathan Burns too..

Sorry guys!  :b

Thanks for being there and helping me though!  :)

Ethan had a wonderful blessing.  One of the things that 

stood out to me was that he would love his friends, family,

and everyone that he would meet.

He's a special guy and I'm grateful I have him.  

A few days ago, Isaac had red ribbon week for No Drugs.

He got to dress up all week in different ways.  

One of the days he got to wear crazy hair, so this is what he looked like.

And here's a lovely Miss Biss..

Ethan's getting some chubbers on his cheeks..

Here's usn's trying to get the hang of things together.

I like Isaac's feet in the picture.. cracks me up!

Isaac really wanted a picture with baby Ethan, 

so crying or not, here we go!  :b

Ethan Michael

My Birthing Story

Thursday night, October 25, began the journey that would bring my beautiful baby boy to me.  Earlier that evening, I felt like I could suddenly run a marathon or something, as I rushed around Wal-mart doing some food shopping with the fam.  Later that night (about 11pm), after eating my nightly bowl of cereal, I felt Ethan starting to poke around and mentioned to Brett that it felt like he was trying to feel his way out of there, first poking at my bladder, then at my cervix.  As I stood up I suddenly felt something pop.  After I rushed to the bathroom, I discovered a bloody show.  Feeling a bit excited, I knew this baby was coming in the next 24 hours.  Little did I know that when my regular birthing waves (labor contractions) began at 1 pm, the baby would make his grand entrance only 4 hours later.  When I arrived at the birthing center at about 3:30am, I felt like the baby was about ready to come out.  Upon examination, we discovered I had dilated to 6cm.  I knew from my birthing class that once you hit 7cm, "transformation" takes place, where usually the baby comes within 10-20 minutes.  Thank goodness I got there in time!  

The student midwife, Harmoney (who delivered my baby), started up the water tub soon after arriving.  It sounded really soothing to hear the water running.  I also had my husband get my MP3 player out to play some relaxing music (by William Joseph).  Originally I had intended to use my Hypnobabies CD's and techniques, but everything happened so fast I didn't have time to listen to them.  At this point my birthing waves were every minute and very strong and discomforting.  My Hypnobabies training however did help me to stay calm and relaxed.  I'm supposing that's why everything went so fast.

Once I got into the hot tub, the jetted warm water felt really nice.  For the next 10 or 15 minutes I relaxed in the tub, but soon, the pressure waves were so strong that I had to turn the jets off because they caused more discomfort.  Then I started to feel really hot, so my student midwife cooled the water a little.  It didn't take long before I hit my transformation stage and felt like pushing.  A bit of nausea and a feeling of being sick started to creep in.  I felt like I couldn't breath very well, so every time I had a strong pressure wave, I had to hold on tight to my husband and my mom.  Finally, I started to feel a more especially strong urge to push, so I finally started pushing with all my might.  It made me tear a bit and was the most ouchy feeling I've ever felt in my life, but it was over within a minute.  Baby Ethan's head popped out and my midwife said if I pushed one more time he'd be out of there.  So when I felt like pushing, I gave it my all.  It was a most interesting experience feeling his body shape slip out, but immediately after that crazy pain, I had my baby on my chest.  I was sooo happy to be done.  As you can tell from the pictures, I felt some mixed emotions at that point.  I didn't know what to think about what I had just experienced, but seeing my baby boy on my chest for the first time and cuddling him in my arms was a pretty amazing feeling.  I got to just sit there and hold him for as long as I wanted.  What an amazing moment!  Truly a special birth and experience.  The coolest thing is with my music playing, I had just listened to "Jesus Once of Humble Birth" and "Silent Night," so it was awesome to bring a bit of heaven into the whole process and to think of Jesus being born to Mary and what she must have felt.  I never thought I would have a natural birth.  It's amazing to think I actually did it without any medication.  Just some water and Hypnobabies training, which definitely was a lifesaver in the experience.  It will always be a beautiful experience to look back upon and I'm grateful Heavenly Father allowed me to have it.  Who knew not having insurance could bring me such a beautiful option with my birth.  :b 

Mixed emotions -Pain..

..And then Joy

Introducing Ethan Michael Hymas

 

 

Born October 26, 2012

5:03 am

7lbs 6oz

21 1/2 in

 Boy do I look.. like I just gave birth or something.  :b  

Holding my little bundle of joy.

 Side shot

 Cuddling with Daddy

 Cuddling with Mommy

 The first couple hours.

 After arriving home around 9:30am, we all had a nap.

Too cute!  Daddy and son..

 The day he was born was a bit chilly, but nice and sunny.

The girls enjoyed playing in the leaves. 

 With Grandma Peel

 Staring at faces around him

 Wondering what this camera contraption is

 Brother checking him out

 There's some wide eyes.

The next day -All gathered around..

 Cute boy

 

 There's some more eyes. 

 Sister, Ashlyn, loving her brother.

Some more bright eyes.

He has been such a wonderful addition to our family.  Every time the kids see Ethan when I get him out of his bed, they come running over very excited and shout, "It's Baby Ethan!!"  They constantly gather around his little face, but he doesn't seem to mind too much.  He likes attention.  :)  "Ethan- gift from God"  "Michael- Who is like God"  He truly is a little surprise gift from God.  A heaven-sent angel.