Birth Story

Olivia took her time getting here but everything worked out perfectly in the end. Gramma and Pa were here for the week after Easter and she still had yet to arrive. Pa had to return to NY for class and Gramma extended her stay another week and rescheduled her conferences but planned to leave on Saturday (April 25) on a 8am flight. Livi must have known that her Gramma was leaving because we started labor at 10pm Friday night and had her at 3:10am with no problems. 

Olivia on the scales, just minutes old!

A quick first bath after a quick delivery.

All clean, awake and ready to meet everyone.

Despite the notes all over the chart regarding how fast our labors progress, the constant reminders from us that we were "getting close" and the repeated urgent phone calls from the delivery nurse for the doctor to come back to the room toward the last 15 minutes of labor, the doctor still did not make it in time and the nurse was the only one there to assist in her delivery! Praise God that things went well, despite the lack of an OB, with no complications and that Olivia is healthy and strong. Bryan says the best part of the labor was when Olivia was half-out and another nurse popped into the room and asked innocently, "Do you need any help in here?" Considering she had been calling for the doctor and other nurses to assist in the delivery for 5-10 minutes prior, the attending nurse could not believe it took that long for someone to come in to help.

Gramma Story got to come to the hospital just before her flight left. She got to spend a half hour with little Olivia before she had to go. It was such a blessing that Livi came before her Gramma had to go home.

The girls and Bryan came back later that day for a nice first visit. 

Daddy and his newest sweet girl.

Olivia loves the attention and stayed awake for her sisters during the entire visit.

We praise God for giving us five wonderful daughters!

We are so very blessed.

Olivia Claire Hamilton

April 25, 2009

3:10 AM

8lb 12oz and 20.5 inches

Tori's Better...Sydni's Turn!

Well, whatever nasty bug Tori had this past week it was not fun. The poor girl spent 6 days on the couch with a fever and a bad headache! She bounced back on Friday and all of her silliness came pouring out in excess. I guess it was from the built-up accumulation of personality that was begging to be released throughout her week of nothingness. She's back to her old silly self and enjoyed playing with friends and going to school yesterday.

The kids just hung out yesterday afternoon (Friday) watching Naomi's favorite show: "Charlie and Lola" after playing outside until it started raining.

Sydni had a fever and headache all day on Thursday but was perfect all day Friday. She woke up this morning with a fever, cough and headache again. I just don't get this weird bug. She's such a good sport about being sick. You wouldn't even know she was not feeling well after looking at her pose for this shot in her new spring outfit that I got at the consignment sale last week! She was so excited to wear it today because it came with a matching headband. What a sweetie!

Two Remind Me

This is just to remind me of how sweet, wonderful and adorable Naomi really is, even after her "two stage" of taking all the pudding out of the fridge or fruit snacks from the pantry, pushing stools up to climb counters and get into cookie jars, taking the DVDs out of the cases while standing on the speaker system, dunking toilet paper into a "used" toilet and removing it to use to clean things including herself, throwing herself on the floor in a kicking and screaming fit when she doesn't get her way.....

"Take a picture of me Daddy 'cause I'm cute!"

Yes, she said that (with encouragement from Mommy)...

and then walked down stairs calling out, this time on her own, "Here I come and I'm cuuuute!"

Big Bouncing Bash!

Sydni's 5th birthday party was a blast! The kids literally bounced in that house for all 4-5 hours that we had rented it!

There were minimal injuries (Kayli sprained an ankle and Tori twisted her knee  in the last hour) but at least none of our guests were hurt. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and the parents enjoyed how exhausted everyone was by the end! It was the best spent $100 for a party!

The weekend before the party it rained day and night for 2 days and was about 30! The week after the party it did the same. However, on the Saturday of Sydni's party it was the warmest we've seen so far this year (80s)! Praise God for such an enjoyable break in the winter weather!

Tyler, Katie (front) and Tori and Sydni (back)

Elizabeth and Kayli

Sydni Hope: Birthday Girl

Sydni bouncing 'til she drops!

Naomi Faith determined to coordinate her bounce techniques

Bella and Sydni playing in the sandbox

Then it was finally time for the cake! Of course, Sydni requested another Barbie cake. Who wouldn't? After all, she does get an extra Barbie out of the deal because she knows that mom won't buy the kind with half of a body to stick in the top, but instead I always bury a new Barbie (naked and wrapped in cellophane) into a dome-shaped cake made by a Pyrex bowl or two! My girls always love getting a new extra Barbie (I stock up when they go on clearance for $5) and I love that the cake still costs less than buying one in the store and tastes just as good!

Bella and Sydni discuss who gets the first piece of cake while Naomi just wants to eat it!

The blowing out of the candle by the birthday girl; hence the hands over Naomi's mouth, to prevent unauthorized blowing!

It's so hard at age 2 to realize that every cake you see does not belong to you!

The 5-year-old Haircut!

Sydni - "The Before Look"

We've been trying to convince Sydni for almost a year to get her hair cut. She has been to Great Clips for a trim but nothing ever different than what she's always had before. Then earlier this year, we made the mistake of comparing her to a neighbor-friend of Kayli's who has similar type and color of hair as Sydni. However, the neighbor girl, Elizabeth, has her hair cut short to her chin. She looks really cute and we told Sydni that she would look just like Elizabeth if she got hers cut. Well, that right there was the deciding point for Sydni; she was NOT going to get her hair cut at all, no matter how much convincing we tried! She did not want to look like Elizabeth; she wanted to look like Sydni! That's when I knew I needed to be creative.

To put it mildly, Sydni was very, very excited about turning 5. She would relentlessly (annoying her sisters to no end) announce her age ("I'm 4 and 3/4, right Mom?") and would reconfirm that fact with me several times during each day, (particularly in front of anyone younger than herself). About 2 months ago, before her birthday, she and I had a little talk about all the expectations about turning five. 

I began by telling her of the party I had scheduled two days before her birthday, inviting all of her friends and renting a large castle bounce house for the afternoon. We discussed the cake preparations and party goodies that we'd serve, so that I'd get it just right. I reminded her, as if she hadn't told me a million other times this year, that she would be starting school just a few short months after she turned five (another huge excitement and, to her, a right-of-passage into the grown up five-year-old world). And that is when I told her about one last detail: her mandatory five-year-old hair cut. Her reaction at this point was, "What? A haircut? I don't want to get a haircut!" That is when I calmly explained that when all children turn five, they must get their hair cut in a grown-up style that is fitting for starting school and that in order to turn five, she too must take part such a privilege of the five-year-old haircut experience! 

Needless to say, her great desire and anticipation of turning five overwhelmed her decision and she agreed eventually to take part. Now, she is so happy that she did because she loves her new style and so does everyone else! She had the cut the day before her party (three days before she was five).

Sydni - "The After Five-Year-Old Haircut Look"

Some of My Girls

Kayli Joy

Sydni Hope

Naomi Faith

Here are three of the girls...Tori refused to pose during this particular photo shoot. I'll catch her this week and add it on too.