Monday, August 30, 2010

photo shoot outtakes of Olivia


Here's a peek at what Olivia does while
I'm taking pictures of the new baby...

First she shows me her prettiest smile with her dress halfway off,

then she peeps over the crib to see baby Will...

Next she pulled Will's tiny pants out of his drawer
and put them on herself. Nice knickers!

She showed me her pretty toenails that Clayton painted
while I was in the hospital {how cute is that?}.

Room wreckage professional at your service!

Why, Mrs. Potato Head, I love your fancy lipstick!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

will's first week at home


Olivia, the big helper!
She LOVES baby Will {"beebee Wow"}.

2 days.





4 days.


4 days.

4 days.



6 days, with big sister Hannah.




A little bundle just chillin' on Mom and Dad's bed. 7 days old.


7 days.




7 days. Oh baby, don't cry!

10 days.
All 5 kids have worn this sleeper
and it's still like new since they grow out of it so quickly.
This is one of those baby things I just won't ever be able to part with!


I was so scared to have this 5th baby, but it really hasn't been as crazy as I thought it would be. Yes, Olivia has splashed in the toilet, scratched up some DVDs and slammed her fingers in a drawer while I'm nursing the baby...but over all it's been okay. I'm still exhausted and feeling overwhelmed sometimes, but Will is such a mellow baby {knock on wood, all the kids but Nina had colic by 2 or 3 weeks}, he really only cries when he's getting his diaper changed and when it's time to eat. I've had some super nice friends and family bring in dinners, which has helped a TON. Also, with Nina gone to kindergarten in the afternoons, I'm able to nap while Olivia and Will nap every afternoon, which has saved me. I guess I was just expecting it to be a lot more crazy than it really is.

The past two weeks I've just loved cuddling up to his sweet new baby smell, feeling the soft fuzz on his shoulders and cheeks, and kissing him. What a sweet little baby. I'm completely in love!


Friday, August 27, 2010

hospital pics


I hate needles! Aren't you proud of me?

Holding Will for the first time.
I always cry the first time I hear the baby cry, it is so amazing.

Ben is so happy to have a brother...
the look on his face when he came into the delivery room was priceless.

One day old.



Poor little baby! He had a fever and then dropped to 96.5,
so the pediatrician had him on antibiotics through an IV in his tiny hand. So sad!

Cutest dad ever.

Ben was first in line to hold him when they came to visit the next day.

Hannah was so sweet, just kept standing by my bed,
all quiet {totally unlike her}, and smiling at me.

One happy big sister, and officially our middle child.


Olivia wasn't sure how to react...she'd be laughing and wildly happy one second,
and then pitching a fit the next, completely bipolar! She's doing a lot better now though.

I've been wanting to write all week, but you know...I just had a baby! Up at 1 am, 4 am, then Nina comes in at 6 am {"I'm scared!"}, baby up at 7 am again, then I'm up at 7:30 to get the kids out the door for school. My bedroom is strewn with burp cloths, the bed unmade, tiny diapers spilling out of the garbage can. I love it though. He won't be a newborn for very long, and despite all the chaos, I'm enjoying it more than ever.

The delivery went great, just took awhile longer than I thought it would since my doctor had to go do an emergency c-section at another hospital. So the nurse slowed down my Pitocin and I had to wait my turn. Then the baby was slower to make his appearance than all my girls...the girls all came in about an hour and a half, and this little guy took about 3 1/2 hours. Can't complain though! It was still pretty fast.

After he was born, Clayton was ready to take him out into the hallway for my family to see him {Clay's family were all down at Lake Powell}. "What should I tell them his name is?" Hmmm...yeah, we still hadn't come to an agreement on that.

"I still like the name James," I said.

"I still like the name Will," he said. "James reminds me of an old man. And I don't want people calling him Jimmy."

{Yeah, yeah. We've had this conversation how many times now?}

"Should we flip a coin?" Clayton asked. Nice! We almost did.

But then after I thought about it for a minute or two, I said, "Okay, well, I did name all the girls and you were always great with what I picked, so....okay, you just go ahead and name him." After all, "Will" was on my list of boy names too. Just not my top pick.

"Okay, are you sure? You can't go back on it, you know?" he said.

"It'll grow on me," I said.

Clayton was very happy about that. And that's the story of how William got his name.
{I picked the middle name of Clayton though.}

Since he was born I've found out that I have several ancestors from England and Ireland named William, one of which shook hands with the Prophet Joseph Smith. So now I like the name even more.

Can I tell you how much I hate being in the hospital? I know some people love it, but I feel like I'm in prison. And the food...ugh! I wanted to check out of there the day after he was born, especially since we have no insurance and we are paying for it. But since he and I had both had fevers for a short time the doctors wouldn't sign the discharge papers. My doctor had left on vacation that day so I couldn't even talk to him, just the on call doctor that I don't even know. Long story, but we ended up staying another night even though we were both fine that entire 24 hours. Cha-ching! There went another $1000. Do you know that we could stay somewhere pretty darn nice for $1000 a night? That actually would have decent beds and yummy food? I felt so trapped, and Clay had to stay home with the kids that night, so I was all alone. I felt like I would go crazy! So I decided to walk the halls for a bit.

As I was walking the halls, pushing baby Will in his little bassinet, a big old mean nurse pointed down toward the end of the hallway where I was headed. "Don't go through those double doors down there or your baby's ankle tag will set off the alarm." I saw the doors she was pointing to, way down the hall. They were closed.

"Okay, I wasn't planning on going through the doors, I'm just walking to them and back." I said.
She put her hands on her hips and glared at me as I walked away from her. Suddenly, "WOO-WOO-WOO!" Horns and whistles shooting off, nurses scurrying around, and mostly glaring at me. I had set off the child abduction alarm by going through the OTHER double doors that were OPEN about 10 feet in front of the nurse's desk. Thanks a lot, lady! Why didn't you specify that is was THESE doors, and not THOSE doors down at the end?

Meanwhile, Clayton and the kids were downstairs, coming to see the baby. Apparently, the elevators and all the hospital doors shut down thanks to me. And I just wanted to go for a little walk. So that just added to my frustration that day. It's pretty funny now, though, isn't it?

There was one nice nurse who passed by me and said, "Don't worry, that happens ALL THE TIME."

So after Clay and the kids came to see the baby and had left, I decided to get the heck out of there for a while, and went by myself to walk outside and see the sunset. It was beautiful and warm outside. I didn't want to go back into the hospital with all those rude nurses! I can't even tell you how happy I was to finally come home with my new little baby Will on Wednesday!


Saturday, August 21, 2010

hello little one



William Clayton Tycksen
August 16, 2010
7 lbs. 5 oz. 19 1/2 inches


{More photos and details to come!}

Saturday, August 14, 2010

the enchanted forest








Did I ever show you Hannah's and Nina's room since we finished it? It's been done since last November, minus little details here and there, I just kept forgetting to take photos of it. I still need to decorate some of the walls, but haven't decided quite what to put on them yet.

The curtains from IKEA were long enough to cut and have fabric to make matching pillows, and the pom-poms were a snap {and cheap!} to make. Sometimes I wish this was my bedroom!

Check out Vinyl Wall Art for the cutest wall stickers you'll ever find.