Dallin's baby blessing

 What a special day this was! Dallin has so many friends and family that came out to support him. 

 These are the men in the circle (Bryant held the microphone)

Here's a few things that he was blessed with...

Feel the love of those in the circle

Understand the many examples in his life and look up to them

Know that he has a mother and father who love him

Listen to the council of his mother

Understand the gospel

There many amazing things that he'll be called to do, blessed that he'll understand them and have the power and strength to accomplish them

Opportunities to make and keep covenants

Go to the temple with someone he loves and be sealed

Understand the power and authority of the priesthood and use it in his own life and with his family

Health and strength spiritually and physically

Laugh often and have joy and happiness in this life

Faith to restore any other blessings the Father has for you

He also got to share this special day with Maikah Kilifi. The Kilifi's are dear friends to us, so it made it even more memorable.

 As always, we celebrated with lunch at our house afterwards.

March 2018

Well...4 kids is kicking my butt, and I'm loving every minute of it. 

We're trying to find our "new normal", but the kids have just been awesome. They love their baby brother so much and they're always willing to help him. Porter and Kennedy seem like they need a little more attention from me, so I'm trying to work on that. 

Porter update:

He scored 100% on his district math test. His teacher calls him a math genius. 

Also, is class was on the news! They had a local weatherman come in and teach them about the weather. Porter keeps saying he's famous now. 

Max update: 

He's just the sweetest and cuddliest big brother, and is adjusting so well.

He's also reading now, and has a new obsession with building things.

Kennedy update:

I was getting ready in my bathroom as Kennedy played in the shower. I noticed that she found a razor so I quickly ran over there to grab it from her. As I got her out and dressed, I noticed she looked different, and I kept thinking her face was swollen. Then I noticed her eyebrows. She shaved her right one half OFF! She's lucky she's so dang cute. 

She looks at Dallin all day and says, "he's sooooo cute"

When she smells something bad (like a toot) she starts spitting and says, " poop in my mouth" over and over. We crack up every time

Her song of choice these days is "Blackbird" from the Beatles. I love hearing her sing it over and over

She calls herself a princess on a daily basis

Dallin has grown so much in his first month. 

He loves to look up at fans and lights

After a bath, his hair sticks straight out like he's just been electrocuted

He hates the carseat and car rides

He doesn't like when I'm not holding him (I'm completely at fault for this, and I don't even care)

He had his first smile! I just didn't capture it on camera.

Dallin's Surgery

I'm going to share a few things that I wrote in my journal the night before Dallin's surgery.

"I can't stop staring at Dallin's perfect face and crying. There are so many emotions I'm feeling right now. 

The first is gratitude...I'm thankful for modern medicine...that my boy will receive a working lip...I'm thankful that we got Dr. Urata for the surgery ( I did extensive research and he's literally the best craniofacial surgeon in the country)...I'm thankful for all the prayers that are being said on Dallin's behalf. There are literally hundreds of people praying for him, people putting his name in different temples, and also members of other faith's adding him to their prayer group...I'm thankful for Brother Kozikowski, Brent, Chad, and Walter for coming over to assist Scott in a blessing for Dallin.

The next emotion I'm feeling is sad...I don't like that he has to go through this, be away from me during surgery, and experience pain...I'm also really sad that he's going to look different. I've fallen in love with his sweet little face and his lips. I'm going to miss his cleft.

The worst emotion I'm feeling is scared...I'm scared of the surgery, the baby going under anesthesia, and any complications that might come after. Scott gave me a blessing, so now I'm choosing to have faith. "

The morning of his surgery was a long one. We got up around 5am to make the drive to Los Angeles. Once we got there, I took every second I had just staring at his face. I was taking it in as much as I could, because I was didn't want to forget how perfect he is. 

Saying good bye to him as they wheeled him in to surgery was one of the hardest things I've ever experienced. Then the 3 hour wait during surgery started out brutal.

Here's another excerpt of my journal on that day,

" They just took Dallin back for surgery and I'm a mess. I keep going in and out of crying. All I want to do is hold him. I weep at the thought that I'll never get to see his "old" lip again. 

With that being said, I'm sitting in a waiting room with other parents and children who are awaiting surgery. There are kids here who are suffering from far worse....

We're sitting next to 2 dads who are talking about their son's chemo treatments. That really put things in perspective for me. My kids are healthy, and I'm so grateful for that. I keep saying silent prayers for these poor kids who are suffering and going through so much. These doctor's and nurses are a different breed of people and are truly doing the Lord's work."

Finally, after 3 hours, I got to have my baby back in my arms!

What joy I felt!

And he's just as perfect as before!

I stayed the night in the hospital with him, and it was definitely the longest night of my life. I had to keep a log of every feeding and diaper change. Here's what my night looked like.

The next day we got to come home and he did wonderful. I only gave him Tylenol for the pain and he handles it like a champ!

February 2018

Dallin Scott Williamson is here!!!

We are so blessed to have this perfect baby in our family.

Dallin arrived exactly 1 week early, on February 1, 2018.

8lbs 6 ounces and 20.5 inches long

We nicknamed him Chip

We're truly in heaven, staring at his perfect face all day.

Heavenly Father blessed us once again because his gums and palate aren't affected at all. It's just a tiny little cleft on the left side of his lip.

Birth Story:

My labor started on January 31, while I was at the Davis's house. While I was talking to Summer and Erin, I started to get contractions every 10 minutes. After an hour of contractions, Summer offered to watch the kids while I got ready at home. I spent a couple hours cleaning, and doing laundry, and getting ready for the baby. The contractions were still coming but they were still only 10 mins apart so I decided to pick up the kids so we could all go out to dinner. It would be our last time as a party of 5! 

Once we got home the contractions were more painful and came every 7-8 minutes. We started getting the kids ready for bed and I told them not to worry if they saw mommy with a "tummy ache". It just meant that the baby will be here soon! After that, every time I had a contraction they cheered lol

After the kids were in bed, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to go to the hospital. Kristie came to watch the kids and we were on our way. 

We got to the hospital around 10:30 pm, after I had contractions for 8 hours. When they checked me I was at a 4 and a half. Not what I wanted to hear. They won't give out the epidural until you're at a 6, and they refused to give me pitocin to speed it up because I was a week early.

They had me walk twice and use the birthing ball twice. It was in the worst pain of my life, and I was progressing so slowly. Finally, around 5am I was at a 6. I was DYING for the epidural, but they told me I couldn't get it for 45 minutes because the person who administers them was in a C-section. I literally cried. 

It was a full moon that day, and it was a blood moon, which only happens every 150 years. The nurses said that every room in the department was full of women ready to have their babies. 

Around 5:30, I was finally saved by an epidural and they gave me pitocin. My water broke, and I always go fast after that.

My mom and sister arrived, and around 11:15am it was time to push! 

By this time, my legs were completely numb and I could feel every contraction on my left side. They had me lay on my side to dilate more, but it caused the epidural to only work on half my body. 

I could feel tons of pressure, and I told the nurse I really had to push. She was letting me push at first, but the midwife wasn't there to deliver yet so she told me to wait. As the midwife got there, I told her I couldn't wait any longer and had to push. She didn't have time to set her table up, because a few pushes later, our Dallin had made his appearance. She even had me pull him out.

The second I had him in my arms I started crying. I was just so in love!!!

He's perfect in every way and I just kept telling him how much I love him.

21 hours of my hardest labor was worth it. He's just the sweetest little thing.

This is what he wore going home from the hospital.

First car ride...

The kids weren't allowed to visit at the hospital because it's flu season, so we got to introduce them to him at home.

Kennedy held him right away and looked at me and said, "He doesn't like you, he likes me". Then she gave me a mean face and said, "This is my baby".

Max held him and looked at him and said, "tiny little cleft lip". Then he mentioned how cute and little he is.

Porter couldn't wait to get home from school. He had been so excited the night I was in labor, that he couldn't' sleep. He ran in, washed his hands, and held him right away. 

The kids have been prefect since we've been home. They wash hands all the time, help me when I ask, and love on the baby non-stop.

These are all the other people who came to visit him.

and here's his birth announcement...

Heres the nursery...

Dallin, I'm so thankful I'm your mom. I've loved you since before you were born. Your health scare bonded me to you even more. It made me appreciate the fact that I get to raise you, love you, hold you, and teach you. I have so many hopes and dreams for you, but most of all, I hope that you're happy. I hope you live a righteous life, serve a mission, marry in the temple, and have kids of your own. Only then will you get a glimpse of the love I have for you.

You have a surgery coming up when you're 3 weeks old. I've done lots of research and found the best cleft surgeon in the country. We met him, felt good about him and his plan, and now I'm scared to death. I'll never be comfortable sending you in to surgery, but I know you need a working lip. It's just hard for my heart to bare it. I love you so much and have been praying for a safe surgery every night. You're so loved by others, you have about 200 more people praying for you too.

Here's a few more pictures of the first weeks of his life.

First bath...

Love, Mom