Hyrum's Blessing

Blessing Day - Our circle of men

I am responsible? Are you sure??

I swear, he loves my kisses!!

Arms of trust!

Bathed in light

The blessing was beautiful. Almost the whole family was there, and the spirit was so sweet. Danny prepared himself well and I felt the spirit strongly as he spoke of Hyrum being an example to those around him. He counseled him to look to his ancestors and family for help and guidance. And he spoke to him about the men whose name he now has. It was wonderful! I love being a mom, and love the spirit that is now permanently in my life because of Hyrum!

Hyrum Patrick is getting blessed!!!

Did you know that I have a list of 100 things to do before I die..... maybe one day I will post that list, but probably not. Some things are personal! :) We will see. But on that list is seeing my husband bless our babies. This is finally coming up for me!

We are blessing Hyrum the 29th of March. This month! In our family ward! Let me know if you are interested in coming!

I will report shortly how it goes. I cannot wait! What a special moment this will be for our new family! And for our extended family that has gone through so many trials, each special moment like this brings more peace into our lives.

I added a few more pics...

BABY WILKINS

Hyrum Patrick Wilkins

Born Feb.23rd @5:58am

7lb. 4 oz.

1st Hospital Picture... Wait until you see under the cap! Strawberry Blonde Hair, and LOTS of it!

Chillin' for the 1st time in his swing.

His 1st Bath at home. He loved it! I was nervous cuz his daddy hates water, but Hyrum only cried when we took him out of the bath. He was so cute!

Just gettin' started in the tub

Aunt Jilly is great at burpin'. I love this shot of him! I can't stop staring at him... One second.... Oh, I was staring again :)

Hospital story: So I had my 1st contraction at 1230am Monday morning. I had eaten lots of pasta and thought I was just having cramps... I had another one 20 minutes later and then another 15 minutes later. I woke Danny up and told him I thought it was time. I had him go back to bed in case it wasn't anything. 10 minutes later I waking him again as a strong one hit and I had no doubt anymore. I called my sister Sariah (coach) and then my midwife. In those short conversations I had 3 contractions! We left the house, picked up Sariah and took off to the hospital. The contractions were 2 1/2 minutes apart by this time and I was already wanting to push. We got checked into the hospital and checked out. I was at a 6 and 100% effaced. I was doing this naturally and though they were SUPER intense and painful I was able to breathe through them. The hardest part was trying to stay focused when everyone was asking me questions and transferring me from one bed to another. I finally got from ER, Triag, then the Labor room. Danny and my sister did a great job but by this time I was asking for the epidural. It was so painful. It was only 3 hours into it and the nurse was saying I had hours ahead of me, I was on an IV for the Strep B and was emotional! I hated all the tests and the monitor on my killin' stomach! Right when I was giving in to the drugs my midwife showed up like an angel! She ordered the lights out, told me to get out of the bed (hallelujia) and then I labored with her for an hour. She was confident and authorative, and yet super supportive and I just felt better with her there. I mostly stood leaning against a table, and then actually sat on the toilet seat for the rest. It was the most comfortable for me. She had me come back to the bed after an hour, 5 minutes and 3 pushes later Hyrum was born! It was a miracle! FUEGO!!! PAINFUL!!!! And yet worth every pain! I got 3 degree tears inside, OUCH! He just came so fast I was not able to stretch enough. But he is so beautiful! I nursed him right away and the rest is a blur :) It was great though feeling so alert, and able to walk so shortly afterwards. I am home now, we are doing great. He is so sweet, I can't get enough of him! Thanks for all the calls and prayers!
Oh yea, and dad is doing great!


More bath time with a friend...

SO CUTE!!!!

OK.. enough mom! no more pics!

alright fine!... one more :)

Counting down....

So.... When is this baby going to come? I have tried everything! As my friend Sally said, "I don't even feel like a woman, more like an animal on the Discovery channel!" It is incredibly hard being patient but I guess that is what I need to learn. Right?

VALENTINES NIGHT WITH OUR WARD

We had a dinner, "not so newly-wed game show" and a dance. It turned out to be lots of fun and I thought after working on getting it ready from 3-630pm, playing until 930pm, and then cleaning up until 11pm that I would have the baby with all the cramps I was having. But, to no avail! I did end up sleeping the day away on Saturday though. I was wiped out!

I do the manual work around here!

aaah..... if only we knew where we would be this time last year!

Trying to get jiggy wit' it, but the belly was more jiggly than my moves!

Baby Shower!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING TO OUR SHOWER!!!!

It was so much fun and I so loved seeing everyone! I can't believe it was my shower and not someone elses! :) Life is fun!!!!

Here are some of my favorite pictures. I am posting the rest on facebook so check them out there!

Kelley me & Char.

"The RS House"

Michelle me and Bishop! He showed us saying he had never been to a shower before and just had to see me! Silly!!!

kissin' babies!

KT showin' all how to use the baby or TODDLER sling!

Preggos!

Crawfords, McLeans, and Char!

SUPERBOWL!!!!

What??? I went to church... not mine, but I went!

Syia, me, and mom!

Da' Boys

chillin' before a rousing game of Settlers

The super stud Kellen!

and of course... the cool ones :)

IT WAS SUCH AN AWESOME GAME!!!!!

We were hoping to have our baby on SuperBowl Sunday

and name him Warner Fitgerald... oh well!

My Little Brother... Howie

Howard Llewellyn VanNatter
There is nothing in life more important than family. I love my little brother so much. This year has been so hard having him away. I can't believe he has been gone for 8 months now. I know that nothing can be done of that... But please pray for him, and my family, especially my parents. I have learned so much about the atonement this year. With all I have gone thru so far in my short 28 years, nothing has taught me more about how much the Lord loves us, and how we need to turn to him. We just received Howard's sentencing. I know most of you have been in the dark as to what is going on with him, but he made some mistakes and is paying the consequences of those mistakes. Though we live in a impartial world and a wicked one we are trying to have hope that things will get better. I don't trust the system which governs us because evil men control it. I support our country but it is hard to have faith in it. I don't. I only have faith in God and the Priesthood, and their power to govern us righteously. Howard was given 5 years, and will be leaving to a juvenile detention center in Tucson soon until he turns 18, then will return to Florence. I pray that a miracle will happen and he will return to us sooner, but I also pray that I can have more faith and put my trust in the Lord. That is what I am learning right now, how to live in a wicked and evil world and yet not become a part of it. Everything the Savior did was set apart from the world. I am finally understanding this. Howard is trying so hard and is succeeding at separating himself from the enviroment around him. I can't believe the man he has become in just 8 months. I will always worry about him but as long as he continues what he has done so far he will be great. The boys call him "preacher" because he is always talking to them about church, the scriptures, and will not allow himself to follow in anything that they do. Everyone knows to leave him alone and not try to push him into things, and others stick up for him. I am so grateful for that. I have learned compassion for those I never really thought twice about. I have learned that the best men in the world can do unthinkable things if Satan is allowed to influence their minds. I have learned that God WILL forgive all men, and will make them better than before. I have learned that Humility is one of the greatest keys to our happinness. On the flipside I have learned that Pride truly is evil. And yet it is one of my biggest vices. Howard told me that pride is the biggest thing he has learned about. He told me that when he gets out he will not allow himself to get caught somewhere where pride doesn't allow him to seek help. Where pride makes you feel like doing good is corny, where pride allows you to do stupid things so that you feel cool. I am grateful for the things he has learned, and what I am learning from him. I know this is a lengthy post, and I hope you take it in the spirit that it is shared. My family is a precious pearl to me. But I will not allow my pride to keep me from sharing my testimony with those that I love... I pray that you are each turning to the Lord in these days. I KNOW that we are each going thru our own unique challenges, and I know that it is because we are in an era of great refinement. So again, I pray with all my heart that you feel my testimony, that God lives. That the Atonement of his Son Jesus Christ is a life saving gift that they gave us, to enable us to return to live with our families one day. That we live in a remarkable time and we cannot procrastinate our days, we must purify ourselves and bring our families closer together.

BABY SHOWER!!!

Here ya go ladies!!! I don't have everyone's addresses so my sisters asked me to post the invite they made on my blog. Please Feel free to respond and let me know if you want to come. :)

5 WEEKS!!! If all goes with schedule :)

Honeymoon in California!

Check out our honeymoon pics. They are under a June post. I just finally got my camera fixed and was able to add some posts from earlier this year. Including Danny and my honeymoon, Willcox reception, camping with friends, etc... Check them out!

The Baby Bump

Alright ladies... I need your help!

I really want to do some cute pictures of the "belly" I need some ideas. I never thought that cute and HUGE BELLY could be in the same category and I am struggling to get over it. :) Do yall have any ideas of how I could take some pics. to show off this belly, baby, and pregnancy and yet still look good? Is it possible? I have a good friend wanting to take some of me, but I don't want it to be embarrassing so any help would be appreciated!

How do you avoid showing off stretch marks? Oh yea, I said it! I have some. Not a ton, but they are there! And are demanding attention. Do I just go black n' white? Do I do side shots? How much skin do I show? Is too much... too much? hahaha! Do you see my anguish? :) ha. Thanks ladies, I know you will come thru!