Christmas... finally

Yeah... I've been slacking. Between work, school, Rob's work and school, and three kids I honestly feel selfish taking time to blog. But I really do love it, so I'm trying to catch back up.

Here are a few pics and a video from Christmas. It was SO MUCH fun this year! Between Asher getting to be a part of our Christmas this year, and the older boys being old enough to really get excited and be into it, it was just a blast.
On Christmas Eve we went to the movies (Moana) and hung out at my parents house for most of the night. We got home, had pudding and eggnog, and sent two very excited little boys to bed. Christmas morning Colton woke up and ran into our room, he completely missed the stuff that was out from Santa haha. We woke Weston up (he has yet to wake us up on Christmas morning) and the fun began. The video is right after they first came into the living room and got to play with everything.
Christmas this year was on a Sunday, but the weather was so bad that church was cancelled. So after playing with all of the toys, and eating some breakfast, we headed back to my parents house to open more presents and play at their house the rest of the day.
We have been so lucky, and so blessed this year!

A few days before Christmas we made Sugar cookies. It was such a challenge, and so much fun at the same time. The boys loved getting to frost their own cookies.

Christmas Morning!

Weston's face HAHA

Asher's baby pictures

We FINALLY got Asher's baby pictures taken and edited. Enjoy :) 

Colton turned TWO!!!

Can I just say that it is so weird how fast time goes once you have kids. How on earth do I already have a four year old, and now a two year old too! Colton actually turned two on Thanksgiving this year, but I am just very behind since we had just gotten back from the hospital.
Although his birthday was pretty chill, he seemed to have a lot of fun! LaNae took both the boys, and all of their cousins to a movie on Thanksgiving. It was an awesome birthday present for Colton... even if he did sleep through the whole thing ;)
That evening my family came over and we opened presents and had cupcakes.

Finally got his own outside toy to play with so he doesn't have to keep stealing his brothers ;)

He is always wearing his brothers boots... so he was SO excited to get a pair of his own

This kid is such a hoot, and a blessing to have in our family! It is never a dull moment with him around, and I am SO thankful that he is ours!

Asher Eli Dickson

Our little man is finally here! And a week old actually, but I'm just slow finally getting this posted ;) Asher Eli Dickson was born 11/21/16 at 6:04 PM. He weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches tall (Colton weighed 7lbs 10 oz, so Asher is the smallest!). Seriously, he is perfect. Like, the best baby ever. Never cries, and is letting mommy sleep at night! Fingers crossed that it stays this way ;)

Here's his birth story and pics!

Robs mom was amazing enough to agree to come down and help out at home for a few weeks following baby, so she flew in on the 19th, Saturday evening. We had scheduled to get induced on Monday, November 21st, first thing in the morning. I was a little nervous about getting induced again, but my doctor was leaving town the next morning for three weeks, so we got it scheduled. 
Rob and I showed up at the hospital that morning, right at 7am. The nurse that was with us for the day, was absolutely amazing. She really listened to what we were wanting, and tried her best to work with us, and help us however she could. She got us all hooked up and the process started. We start the Pitocin around 8:30 that morning. Shortly after, LaNae, Weston, and Colton all showed up. The boys hung out for a little bit, and then my mom came and took the boys for the day. LaNae stayed to help coach me and Rob through the labor. With the other boys I had gotten an epidural, and I really didn't want to get one this time. I had had different issues with the other two, and desperately wanted to avoid it if at all possible. Contractions slowly started getting more intense, but it still seemed like it was taking forever. Rob and I danced, listened to relaxing music, laughed, and I snuck food whenever my nurse wasn't watching. As contractions got worse Rob helped relieve some pain as I used the birthing ball to sit on and lean on. As the labor progressed however, it looked like Asher's heartbeat kept dropping with each contraction. We kept it monitored, and tried different things to help, but we just couldn't seem to fix it. Of course I was totally freaking out. At that point all thoughts of getting the epidural went out the window. I just wanted to get him here safely and quickly, and I knew an epidural would only slow things down. Eventually the nurse and doctor decided that I needed to stay in the bed, so that they could keep an eye on the heart monitor better. I was scared they would make me get a C-Section, so I quietly got into bed, and kept praying. Once I was in the bed, it seemed like the contractions got a lot worse. Rob was amazing, and helped me breathe and focus through each one. He even had me laughing (which hurt a lot more, so he got told that wasn't allowed :)  ).  Although I've been told I was only in the bed for a few hours before Asher were born, it felt like a life time. And yet, almost out of nowhere I was told it was finally time to push. Baby had been a trooper, and he was finally ready to be here! LaNae told me it only took 5 contractions to get him here. I honestly have no idea how long it took, but it was such an amazing experience. Finally, at 6:04 PM Asher was born! 

The first couple of days he kept spitting up really bad, but they said it was just amniotic fluid that he were still trying to clear out of your system. After a couple of days that cleared up, which has been such a huge relief, because it was really scary every time. At his newborn check a few days later they said that his jaundice levels were high, and they made us put him on a bilirubin light for 2 days. Even though he was home, it was so hard, because snuggling was pretty much not an option while he were on the light. Everything cleared up quickly though, and the last few days we have been snuggling him nonstop :)